Homecoming
by lady-lunastar
Summary: Set after The World is Silent. The past returns to both Reid and Catherine with people they never thought they would see again and when one is killed and the other barely hanging on it' the BAU to the rescue. Going off season 7
1. Opening

Homecoming

By Lady Lunastar

Disclaimer-I don't own Criminal Minds or any of the songs used here.

Follow up to The World is Silent.

Prelude

_"I can't believe you found her," said Daniel. His hands were shaking holding the photo of his daughter. "She looks like her mother...god she's pretty." Daniel couldn't stop smiling, he hadn't seen her in over two years and it was amazing how much she had changed, she was getting all A's and was going to college. _

_ "Here's hoping that she's smarter than me," laughed Daniel and he raised his glass in mock toast. He hadn't had a real drink in over eight months, it was one of the many reasons the marriage had ended. _

_ "She's a good girl you know..." said Daniel softly. She was so different than what he and his ex wife had been when they were in high school. Looking back down he could see just how horrible they had been to people, if anyone did the things to his daughter that they did to other kids when he was younger he would be tearing the heads off her bullies._

_ "You know it's funny huh...I can't believe he got married. Ryan said she would get hot and he was right. The geek got a hottie." Daniel stood up and started pacing. He really wanted to go and talk to his daughter, but what would he say. Sorry that he walked out on her. Sorry that he was a selfish dickhead. It was a sad state that the guy he tormented without mercy in high school was more involved in his daughter's life than he had been. Daniel was so busy pacing that he forgot about his guest. His guest stood up quietly and came up behind him. Daniel was crying like a little bitch, something about how he didn't deserve to even have his daughter._

_ "You're right you don't." Daniel went to turn around and that's when he felt a knife go right through his chest and into his lungs. Daniel fell to the floor and tried to draw a breath and found he couldn't, he was choking to death. He tried to crawl and he felt the knife go in his back. Things were starting to go gray and his whole body felt like it was underwater. He couldn't understand why this was was happening to him. Daniel closed his eyes and he saw his daughter, a small smile came to him and he hoped that she would be happy. Something he had never really been in his life. _

_ Clean up was quick, there would be no prints or anything to lead them back. People would question why this happened. The reason was carved into the wall. _

_ Unworthy _

_Three weeks later_

Spencer couldn't wait to get home, this case had been one that got under this skin and was most likely the cause of the nightmare he had back at the hotel in California. He was almost tempted to text Catherine after waking up at two am in a cold sweat from the nightmare where he walked into Abby's room and found it was covered in blood. The room of Mackenzie Lewis was burned into his brain, she was only seven. Cases with children always got under his skin, the youngest victim at the Lewis household was only six months old and the mother had tried to shield the baby with her own body. Abby had just turned four months a few days ago and he knew that Catherine would mostly likely do the same thing if she was in the same situation. The plane ride home felt even longer than normal, but they actually got home around 6 pm.

"Happy Valentine's day my fine friends," said Garcia sitting some candies on Emily's desk. Emily's arm was in a sling, she had been grazed by the Un-sub's bullet.

"Ah yes...Happy Single's Awareness Day," teased Emily.

"Oh shut up. You are no longer single and can't get in on our holidays," said Morgan. Emily shrugged. She had unofficial been seeing Kyle Jackson, one of Catherine's teacher friends for a few weeks now and it seemed to be going alright for the most part. Emily was mum on the subject and if Kyle was telling Catherine anything she was keeping it to herself.

"You know that early Christian martyrs were named Valentine and the romantic elements of Valentine's day didn't start until the 14th century," said Spencer taking a piece of candy.

"Now it's bad chocolates and overpriced roses," said Rossi.

"Well aren't we bitter," teased JJ. "I'm off to enjoy my overpriced roses and bad chocolate. Night." JJ packed up her bag and left.

"Drinks?" asked Rossi.

"I'm in," said Morgan.

"Can't with the pain killers," said Emily. She waved goodbye and left the bull pen.

"Kevin promised me homemade sushi so I will see you all in the morning," said Garcia and she took off. Spencer sorted through his office mail and sat the request aside to be dealt with in the morning, a small box addressed to him was there. Normally, he and Catherine didn't celebrate Valentine's day since they both agreed it was a lame holiday. _Why should I love you more one day out of the year, _was the question Catherine asked so they never gave this holiday much thought. However, it had been a very long year to say they least. Spencer opened the box and Morgan leaned over and whistled.

"Oh you shouldn't have." It was silver charm bracelet with a few hanging charms: a small round charm with Abby's birthstone, a music note, a chess piece, a kanji character and the Eiffel tower. Spencer simply rolled his eyes at Morgan.

"Catherine always wanted one of these when we were kids. She had one once, but she lost it somewhere." Spencer put the bracelet back in the box and into this bag they went. "Night." Spencer caught the train home and headed up to the apartment. He let himself into the apartment and saw Catherine was sitting in front of Abby and was signing her a song.

_Even now when I'm alone/I've always known with you/I am home_

_For me it's a glance and the smile on your face the touch of your hands/And an honest embrace/ For where I lay it's you I keep/This changing world I fall asleep/With you all I know is I'm coming home,  
>Coming home <em>

Spencer put his hand on Catherine's shoulder and she looked up at him and smiled, he had already texted her that he was on his way home. Abby was clearly dressed for the holiday and was wearing a pair of pink sweats and a pink and white stripped shirt.

"Hey, welcome home," signed Catherine and she kissed him on the cheek.

"It's nice to be home," he signed. He sat down next to Catherine and Abby open and closed her fists and lifted her arms up.

"She got on?" asked Spencer watching as Abby repeated the motion.

"Yep, she wants picked up," signed Catherine, They had been working on Sign Language with her and this was one that Catherine had come up with to make it easier for Abby to communicate with them. It was a Home sign-something that would only make sense to them. Abby lifted her arms up again and started to fuss.

"Alright" signed Catherine. She picked Abby up and hugged her. Abby let out a small coo and she stopped fussing. Catherine went to put Abby back in her seat and she grabbed a section of Catherine's hair. "This means 'No'," said Catherine taking back her hair and she put Abby back in the chair. Abby looked at her annoyed and she lifted her arms up again and she started to whine.

"You try it," signed Catherine. Spencer picked Abby up and she relaxed, he went to put her back in the seat and since she couldn't get his hair she went for his vest. Spencer put her back in her chair and she looked even more annoyed. She lifted her arms back up again and Catherine picked her back up and rubbed Abby's back to soothe her.

"I didn't think she would catch on this quickly," signed Spencer.

"She's your daughter and I would expect nothing less. You ok...I saw your case on the news," said Catherine quietly. Spencer wasn't surprised that the case had made the news or that Catherine had sensed his mood so quickly.

"I'll be fine. It looks like someone is getting hungry," signed Spencer. Abby was rubbing her face into Catherine's shirt and was fussy. She sat down, picked up a blanket to cover them up with and started feeding the baby.

"So how was work?" asked Spencer. Catherine had gone back to work this week and they really hadn't had a chance to talk since he had been sent out of town.

"It was ok. The kids seemed more interested in asking about Abby instead of the topic at hand." Abby finished her feeding and Catherine started burping her. "She was a little upset about going to daycare and well...I wasn't much better. I kept having baby withdrawal." Spencer gave her a smile, he too had issues of withdrawal when he first went back to work.

"My first case back, I woke up at like three am freaked out that Abby hadn't woken me up yet. Than I realized I was in a hotel room in the middle of nowhere." Catherine handed Abby over to him.

"You wanna give her a bath and I'll make us some dinner?" asked Catherine.

"Ok." Spencer took Abby into the bathroom and got her bath things around before running the water. Abby was a squrimer so getting her undressed was always a challenge for him. Spencer got her into the sink and started bathing her. Abby looked up at him and she smiled up at him, it was still a bit surreal to him that he was somewhat responsible for this small person who trusted him completely. Spencer finished her bath and quickly wrapped her up in a towel before she got cold. He got Abby diapered and dressed in her pajamas before she could start to fuss. He felt her grab a hold of his shirt and she yawned.

"You sleepy honey? Yeah...you wanna go to bed?" Spencer took Abby to her room and sat down in the rocking chair with her and started rocking her to sleep."I missed you. Did you miss me?" Abby yawned again and he watched her drifted off to sleep. "Good night to you too." Spencer placed Abby in her crib and watched her sleep. He reached into the crib and brushed back her hair. Spencer felt Catherine wrap her arms around his waist, he turned around and hugged her.

"Your dinner is ready...you wanna eat with me?"

"I'm starving." He followed Catherine out of the bedroom and into the kitchen. Catherine had made grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup.

"I have something for you," signed Spencer once they finished dinner. He reached into his bag and pulled out the small box for her. Catherine took the box from him and he watched her turn a bit pink and she gave him a shy smile.

"You already got me flowers, you didn't have to get me anything else. I'm still working on your gift," signed Catherine before opening the box. She took the bracelet out of the box and he watched her face light up. "This is so pretty...thank you." Catherine hugged him, but he was distracted by what she had told him before opening the gift. _You already got me flowers._

"You got flowers?" asked Spencer.

"They were waiting for me at my office this morning. Sorry I didn't get to thank you for them earlier."

"I didn't send you flowers," signed Spencer and he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up for some unknown reason. The last time Catherine had gotten flowers that weren't from him, they were from Ian Doyle. A warning to Emily that he knew who she was close too. Catherine gave him a look as she put the bracelet on.

"Maybe they were from a student or a delivery mix up. I should have known they weren't from you, they were pink roses." She fingered the charms and smiled. "I used to have one of these."

"I remember," signed Spencer.

"Of course you do," teased Catherine. She leaned over and kissed him. "So do you want to finish what we started before you were called away?"

Spencer grinned and they headed into the office where the keyboard was set up. Before Abby was born, Spencer had been trying to teach Catherine how to play. She couldn't hear what she was playing, but she could feel how different each key was. Over the past few months since Abby's birth they hadn't had the time or energy. They had tried earlier this week after Abby had gone to bed, but he had been called in before they could get started

Catherine sat down and Spencer sat down behind her so he could guide her hands on the keys. The piece was called the Glasgow Love Theme and it was a short and beautiful piece from one of the few romantic comedies he had watched with Catherine and liked a little. Catherine watched him play through it first and than he took her hands and walked her through which keys to play. Spencer watched her try to feel the vibrations on the keys. This was one of the many reasons he was so in love with her, she always pushed herself to try and learn things that people just assumed were beyond her. She did always love the challenge. Catherine yawned and it was only than that they realized it was getting close to eleven and that both of them had work in the morning.

"You're getting better at this," signed Spencer and Catherine turned a bit pink again.

"Well it helps if the teacher is good at his job." They got ready for bed and checked in on Abby.

"How can she sleep like that?" asked Spencer. Abby had both arms over her head and one of her legs was bent at an odd angle.

"It's comfortable for her."

"So what did you get me for the greeting card holiday? You said you were working on it?" Catherine just grinned.

"You just have to wait and see." They went to bed and Spencer felt Catherine curl up next to him and he took his hand and held it tightly in his.

…...

Emily sat at a table in the club watching Kyle play the drums. He played in band that normally only performed on the weekends for fun, but they agreed to play on Valentine's day since the owner was a friend. He spotted Emily and gave her a small nod, she smiled back and waved with her good hand. She really liked Kyle, he was a sweet guy that was just easy to be around. After all the crazy that was the last year of her life it was nice to have something normal and honest for a change.

_Where you are seems to be/As far as an eternity/Outstretched arms open hearts/And if it never ends then when do we start?/I'll never leave you behind/Or treat you unkind/I know you/ understand/And with a tear in my eye/Give me the sweetest goodbye/That I ever did receive_

Emily sipped her soda and almost choked on an ice cube when she saw Hotch walk into the club with woman with long dark hair. Hotch gave the woman a huge smile and they sat down at the bar together. _She must be Beth...why do I feel the sudden impulse to just smack her senseless? __I don't know her._

"Hey," said Kyle sitting down across from her. "So how does the other guy look?" He motioned her arm in the sling and Emily shrugged.

"He looks bad...like in the morgue bad."

"Does it make me a terrible person that I'm not sad that he's in morgue?" asked Kyle.

"Well...the girlfriend in me says not really and the profiler in me is debating if you are a sociopath."

"Well...I've never wet the bed, the only fires I've started are from burning things in my kitchen and I might have killed some goldfish when I was five because I wanted to take them for a walk." Emily couldn't help but laugh, he was funny and just so easy going. _Unlike other people we know, so uptight that it was unreal at times._

"So if you're free on Saturday, I can get a sitter for Jody and maybe we could go out and see a movie that is rated PG-13."

"Oh wow...PG-13! You are a wild man."

"You know it we were back in Ohio I would take you cow tipping if you wanted some real fun. Or maybe TP-ing...it's like a national sport."

"So you grew up in Ohio?" asked Emily. They were still in the getting to know you phase of the relationship.

"Well...my dad was in the Air Force so I was born in Germany on the base there. After he finished his tour of duty in the Gulf War he got stationed at Wright Patterson Air Force Base and so I did grow up in Ohio. And what about you...you have the military brat vibe. We know our own, so which branch were you in?"

"I wish it was military. My parents were US Ambassadors to a lot of different countries. Some in Europe and some in the Middle East." Kyle grinned and took a sip of his drink.

"So does this make me the boy your parents warned you about? Single dad, public high school teacher and a band drummer...you're dating me to piss your parents off. Nice," joked Kyle. Emily shook her head, her father had passed away when she was little and well her mother...they hadn't really spoken since she had come back and Emily wasn't in the mood to poke that with a stick. Besides, her mother wouldn't see Kyle the way she saw him.

"Well I always wanted to be band groupie," teased Emily.

"Glad I could help." Emily went to say something else when one of Kyle's band mates came up him looking worried.

"Hey...she witch is here and she wants to talk to you." Kyle frowned and looked at Emily worried.

"I'm sorry. I'll be right back." Kyle stood up and he walked over to the bar and Emily watched him walk over to a tall blonde woman and gesture that they needed to go outside. They were gone for ten minutes and than Kyle came back in to the club and the woman came in behind him yelling.

"SHE'S MY DAUGHTER AND YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO KEEP ME FROM HER!" A bouncer came over and pulled her our of the club and Kyle sat back down across from her and looked embarrassed.

"So...that was my crazy ex girlfriend and from her half drunken screaming I guess you figured out that's Jody's mother...and she wonders why I don't let her see Jody. I'm really sorry about that...she just moved into the area like a month ago I think just to piss me off and...I'm sorry I'm just dumping on you and..." Emiy cut him off.

"Kyle...my last ex...well in a manor of speaking my last ex was part of a terrorist organization and he tried to kill me and I had to play dead for almost a year. You having a crazy ex is a drop in the bucket. Catherine told you that right?"

"She might have mentioned you coming back from the dead and not as a zombie."

"Everything ok?" Emily looked up and there stood Hotch and Beth wearing a curve hugging red dress and looking amazing. Emily on the other hand was wearing just jeans and tee shirt coming off a grueling case.

"Um...yeah. Kyle, this is my boss Aaron Hotchner. Hotch, this is a Kyle." Kyle stood up and shook his hand.

"Hi. Sorry about the scene, but everything is cool now."

"Yeah, everything is fine," said Emily.

"Oh...Emily this is Beth. Beth, I'm sure you've figured out that Emily and I work together at the BAU."

"It's nice to meet you," said Beth.

"Well...it's getting late and I need to get Jack up for school. I'll see you in the morning. Nice to meet you Kyle," said Hotch. He and Beth left and Kyle went to go call Jody's sitter. Emily sat there and stired her drink. She liked Kyle she really did...she just wasn't sure if what she felt for him would be what she felt for Hotch.

…...

_Unbelievable...after all the work I put in to find Jody for her she's drinking again. The woman was sitting at a bar pounding back shots like they were going to run out and bitching about her ex. Worthless bitch, I wouldn't let you be anywhere near her if I was your ex...I'll fix her. Right after I fix the other bitch. They have no idea...no idea how lucky they are to have such wonderful daughters. I miss you so much honey._

Notes-I know Closing Time took place during Valentine's day and A Thin Line happened after, but I really didn't like Closing Time...other than JJ the Un-sub slayer it was not a good ep. Might use some of the cannon from the rest of the season, but we'll see.

Reviews?_  
><em>


	2. Chapter one

Chapter one

"Can we have mac and cheese?" asked Henry.

"Yes we can have mac and cheese," said Spencer. He had agreed to watch Henry for JJ so she could go out with Emily and Garcia. They had invited Catherine, but she asked for a rain check since she had college recommendations to write for several students and mid term tests to plan out.

"Can I play with Abby?"

"We'll see. She still very little and likes to sleep a lot still," explained Spencer. They got off the train and headed for the apartment.

"When is she going to be fun?" whined Henry.

"Give her time and than she'll be lots of fun. You used to be little and sleep a lot," said Spencer, recalling the first time he had seen Henry.

"No I wasn't," laughed Henry.

"You were so small Aunt Garcia wanted to dress you in puppy clothes."

"No she didn't!"

"Oh yes she did." They got to the apartment and let themselves in. Abby was sitting in her walker playing with one of her toys. Catherine was sitting on the sofa and so was Savannah. Savannah looked like she had been crying and was clearly upset about something.

"Oh hey Dr. Reid and who is this cutie pie?" asked Savannah quickly wiping her eyes when she noticed them.

"This is our god son Henry," said Spencer. Catherine caught his eye and he knew that she was worried too and that they would talk about it later on.

"Hi Henry. I guess I should get going now..." Savannah picked up her backpack and went to head for the door and Catherine stopped her.

"If you need anything at all you know where I am ok?" signed Catherine._  
><em>"Thanks Mrs. Reid," said/signed Savannah and she left the apartment. Catherine bent down and hugged Henry.

"Hi Aunt Kitty," said Henry and than he signed it to her. Catherine smiled at him.

"You want to play with the baby while Uncle Spencer and I make dinner?" asked Catherine, speaking slowly so Henry could understand her.

"Ok." Henry went over the walker and started playing with Abby. Catherine nodded her head towards the kitchen and Spencer followed. He put a pot of water on to boil for the noddles and than turned to Catherine.

"What's going on? Is Savannah alright?" Catherine took a deep breath and sat on the counter.

"She's pregnant."

"What?"

"When Saul was home for winter break they finally went all the way and now she's pregnant, about six weeks and to say she's freaking out is an understatement." Catherine twisted her wedding ring on her finger and Spencer hugged her. Catherine mentored a lot of students, but her relationship with Savannah was very much like his relationship had been with Gideon.

"Did she ask about going to a clinic?" asked Spencer and Catherine shook her head.

"She said she walked in to one and than couldn't do it. She left there and came over here to talk. She's worried about going to college now. She's worried that her mother is going to throw her out, she worried that Saul will quit school to take care of her or break up with her, she's just plain scared. I know what that's like."

Spencer dumped the noodles into the pot and stirred so he didn't have to look at Catherine. She had been through a pregnancy scare when she was eighteen after they had slept together and then he went back to California for school. She told him about it after they had been dating for about two years and they had another scare.

"How scared where you?" asked Spencer setting the timer. Catherine sighed.

"It was like everything was frozen, but going at 100 miles an hour at the same time. Would I have to quit school? How was my dad going to react? How would my friends react? Would I need to get a job? How was I going to tell you and what were you going to do and how would you react? It was just a lot to process all at once."

"Does she have any idea what she plans on doing yet?"

"Well she's pretty much decided that abortion is not an option. She wants to tell Saul in person. She's supposed to go to New York in two weeks for a visit. She's worried about how her mother is going to react. Her mother is...well she's distant to say the least from what Savannah has told me," signed Catherine. The timer went off and Spencer drained the noddles and Catherine got off the counter and made Henry some green beans.

"What about her dad?" asked Spencer.

"Her parents divorced about three years ago and she hasn't seen him since. I just don't understand how you can not see your child for three years and...I just don't get it," signed Catherine leaning against the counter. Spencer finished making the mac and cheese and hugged Catherine again. They both had parents who had just walked out on the them when they were children. Spencer and his father had reconnected, but it still hurt a bit that when he needed his parent he was no where to be found. Now that they had Abby, neither one could imagine not being with her.

"I know I should have talked with you first, but I sort of told Savannah that if she needed somewhere to stay that she could stay here." Spencer made a face at her.

"Catherine did you honestly think I would say no and tell the pregnant seventeen year old to sleep on K street?" Spencer had grown fond of the young girl also, she was just a very sweet and kind person. They plated up dinner and headed into the living room. Henry was playing peek a boo with Abby and both of them were laughing.

"She's fun now," said Henry making a face at Abby and she laughed at him. They had dinner and they let Henry play with Abby some more until she got tired and needed to be fed and put to bed. They played a game with Henry and than he needed to be put to bed.

"JJ said she would be back around eleven," signed Spencer. Catherine pulled out her laptop to write some more letters and sat with Spencer has he read. It got close to midnight and Spencer called JJ and all he heard was whooping. Catherine let out a small laugh looking at Spencer's expression.

"So I think she's going to be later than she said," signed Spencer. Catherine saved her last letter and shut the computer down.

"He can sleep with us." Spencer picked Henry up and they put Henry in the middle of the bed so he wouldn't fall out of bed.

"You ok?" asked Spencer. Catherine shrugged.

"Just worried about Savannah. It's just a lot for someone to be carrying around at her age." Spencer hugged her again tightly.

"If you had been pregnant all those years ago, I would have been there for you." Catherine looked at him and kissed his cheek.

"I had a feeling that you would do that for me...it was one the things that scared me the most. That I would screw up your life and that you would hate me for it someday. Thirty has a way of looking at seventeen and we know what the right thing is now. Doing it and living with it are a separate issue," signed Catherine. She went to change into her pajamas and Spencer followed her. He shut the bathroom door behind him and startled her.

"What are you..." Spencer cut her off by taking her hands in his and than kissing her hard.

"You wouldn't have screwed up my life...please don't ever think that," signed Spencer when he pulled away from her.

"I know that now."

…...

"Please stop yelling," whimpered JJ looking at Spencer who was whooping and waving a flag.

"I envy your inability to hear things," signed Garcia looking at Catherine. They were at Hotch's race waiting for him at the finish line. Jack was on Morgan's shoulder waving a sign next to Rossi. Spencer was holding Henry on his hip and Catherine had Abby in a chest carrier.

"Why is it so bright and loud," muttered Emily. All three women looked like death warmed over. JJ had come to get Henry around six am, her appearance was of a party girl that had bitten off more than she could chew. Catherine adjusted Abby in her chest carrier. The baby looked up at her with a smile. Catherine smiled down at her and kissed her on her head.

"A couple hours, a couple hours," mocked Spencer. "You didn't come home till dawn."

"Please stop yelling," begged JJ.

"Catherine, shut your husband up!" signed Emily.

"Yeah, that's not gonna happen," signed Catherine grinning at her friend's hungover state.

"Hey Jackie boy plug your ears." Jack covered his ears and Morgan turned to Garcia.

"What the hell did you drink last night?"

"The green fairy! You are in the FBI, please make the crowd stop yelling," whined Garcia.

"So much for never drinking again huh?" asked Morgan and Garcia glared at him.

"You are lucky we have so many small children around or the bad words would be flying," said Garcia.

"By my estimate Hotch should be finishing any minute now," said Spencer looking at his watch. Catherine felt Abby push against her and the baby was starting to pout.

"I'm going to take Abby over there and give her a bottle ok," signed Catherine pointing to a clump of benches a few feet away.

"Ok," signed Spencer. Catherine picked up the diaper bag and walked away. She sat down with Abby and unfastened the chest carrier so she could hold her. She pulled a bottle out and started to feed Abby.

"That better sweetie?" asked Catherine watching her down the bottle. Catherine was focused on Abby so she didn't even notice the older woman who sat down next to her until she tapped her on the shoulder.

"I'm sorry to bother you, I thought I recognized you from the lecture at CSOD. Catherine Reid right?" Catherine nodded and she put Abby back in her chest carrier so now she was hands free and it was easier for her to sign. The older woman had long brown hair that had going gray pulled back in a braid and dark green eyes. Something about those eyes were familiar to Catherine and she didn't know why. She looked over and saw that Spencer and the others were greeting Hotch.

"This must be Abby. How old is she now?"

"Four months." Something about this woman was triggering something in Catherine that she just couldn't place. _Those eyes...something about them..._

"Have we met before...I don't remember seeing you at the lecture or the reception." The older woman looked at her sadly and than looked away.

"This was a mistake and I'm sorry...so sorry." She walked away quickly and Catherine felt every hair on the back of her neck stand up and despite the warm sunny day she felt cold and for no reason she felt afraid. _Why...who are you? _She saw Spencer coming over to her and almost instantly she felt relaxed and safe.

"You ok?" asked Spencer. He had noticed an older woman talking to Catherine and he remembered her from the reception at the school and how she gave Catherine the oddest of looks.

"Fine...everything is fine." Catherine stood up, Spencer grabbed the diaper bag and they headed back to the car.

"So everyone is going out to brunch, you wanna come?" asked Spencer.

"An omelet sounds really good." Spencer took her hand in his and were unaware that Megan was watching them trying not to cry. _My own daughter doesn't recognize me. Than again she was seven the last time I saw her and before that she was still a baby. Why should she recognize me after almost twenty nine years of not being in her life? She is so good with her baby...I was never that good with her. I just...no there is no excuse for how I was with her. I was her mother and she needed me to be there for her. _Megan wiped her eyes quickly and got in her car. She just wanted to explain why she had left to Catherine even though her reasons were piss poor at best in her eyes. _I just want to talk to you one time...just once..._

Megan drove back to her apartment and let herself in. She went into her living room to watch a movie when she noticed the mirror on her wall. Someone had written on it in what looked like red paint. _Unworthy. _

What the..." Before Megan could finish her sentence she felt something sharp go into her side and before she could scream someone slammed her head into the wall and everything went black

…...

"What...what it is...you want Mr. Bear? You want Mr. Bear?" said/signed Catherine to Abby holding the small black bear Emily had gotten her when they were in Chicago. Abby slammed her hands on the tray of her walker and Catherine gave her the toy. Abby gave her a huge toothless smile and put the bear in her mouth and started to drool on it.

"She really likes that bear?" asked Spencer sitting down on the floor with her.

"She does that with all her toys. This one is just her favorite right now." Spencer took Abby out of her walker and sat her on his lap.

"You like the bear more than daddy?" Abby had a death grip on her bear, but she was looking at him with a slightly amused expression and than she looked away shyly. "Playing shy huh." He laid down on the floor with her and placed her on his chest. He tickled her sides and she let out a very small shriek and a laugh. Catherine looked over at Spencer and Abby and smiled. She knew how much he loved his job at the BAU, but she could always see a hint of sadness in his eyes when he got called out on cases. When he was home, his attention was focused on Abby and he was so unbelievable good with her.

"You ok?" asked Spencer.

"Why do you ask?"

"You just have this really spaced out look."

"Just thinking how ungodly cute you are with her. I really should get the camera." Spencer made a face at her and Catherine laughed. She started grading some test and Spencer looked back and forth for a moment between his wife and daughter. _They have the same laugh._ It was amazing to him how much she took after Catherine already. At four months she already had Catherine's laugh, her smile and many of her mannerisms. _You are your mother's child. _He sat Abby back in her walker and handed her the bear. Abby gave him another smile and went back to her bear. Spencer turned his attention to Catherine.

"You sure that you're ok? You seemed a little nervous at the park with that lady earlier today." Catherine shrugged and circled something on a quiz.

"Something about her...just gave me the willies. I don't know why." Abby dropped her bear and let out a scream. Spencer turned to the baby and handed her the toy, which she threw down again and looked at her parents to get her toy again.

"She does this game a lot too," signed Catherine picking the toy up again. Abby smiled at her mother and before she could drop it again the doorbell light went off.

"I'll get it," signed Spencer. He got up and went to the door, standing there were two men, one was an Asian man in uniform and the other was a plain clothes detective that looked to be about Rossi's age.

"Dr. Reid, I'm Detective Thomas Kolkie with the Metro PD and this is Officer Robin Hu. Is your wife Catherine home?" asked Kolkie showing his ID to him.

"She is and what is this about?" asked Spencer.

"It might be best if we speak to the both of you," said Kolkie. After being in the FBI for seven years, Spencer was all too familiar with family notifications and he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

"Who is it?" asked Spencer.

"Sir...please let's go in so we can all talk," said Hu calmly. Spencer sighed and let them into the apartment. He knew what they were going to tell him and it was not going to be good. They had asked for Catherine first and he was worried about what they were going to tell her. _God don't let it be one of her students. Catherine_ had her back to the doorway so Spencer had tap her on the shoulder to get her attention. She turned and saw the two officers behind him.

"Catherine, this is Detective Thomas Kolkie with the Metro PD and this is Officer Robin Hu. They need to talk to us," said/signed Spencer. Catherine looked at him worried, but she got off the floor and sat down on the sofa.

"What's going on?" asked Catherine and Spencer translated it to the officers. He watched the officers exchange looks, they clearly weren't prepared to have this conversation with a person who couldn't hear them. Kolkie sat down across them and sighed.

"Mrs. Reid, I'm sorry to tell you that your mother was attacked in her home this afternoon and is in critical condition at St. John Hospital." Spencer looked at Catherine and she was clearly confused.

"Erin is with my dad on an Alaskan cruise and they sent me an e-mail last night. So I'm sorry I think you have the wrong person," signed Catherine and Spencer translated to the officers. Now the officers looked confused.

"Erin?" asked Hu.

"She's Catherine's step mother and she lives in Las Vegas, not DC. I have to agree with my wife that you have the wrong person," said Spencer.

"Our victim's name is Megan Brody...Brody is her maiden name. Her married name was Dueringer which was your maiden name wasn't it?" asked Kolkie in a tone that came across as a bit demeaning to Spencer.

"My wife is Deaf, I'm not," said Spencer glaring at him.

"Just let us explain please," said Hu. He pulled out a driver license photo of the women claiming to be Catherine's mother. Catherine looked at the photo and than back to Spencer slightly fearful. The photograph was of the woman who had spoken to them at the park.

"She listed you as her daughter and next of kin," said Hu and Spencer signed it to her. Catherine looked at Spencer confused.

"I don't know this woman and I've only spoken to her once," signed Catherine. Spencer looked at the photograph and than back to Catherine and couldn't see the resemblance between them.

"When was the last time you saw your mother?" asked Hu.

"She was seven," said Spencer noticing how upset Catherine was starting to get. Abby was starting to get upset that she was being ignored by both her parents and started to fuss.

"It can't be her...she..." Catherine just shook her head and was fighting tears. She picked Abby up and left the room. Spencer heard the bedroom door slam and both his wife and daughter crying.

"I'm sorry if we touched a nerve," said Hu.

"We were hoping to ask your wife some questions, but until she calms down we really can't go forward," said Kolkie.

"My wife has never had a relationship with her birth mother so I'm not sure how she can help you," said Spencer. The agent in him knew that they had to speak with Catherine for the investagation, she might know something without realizing she knew it. The husband and best friend in him wanted them to leave her alone so she could try to cope with what was going on.

"The doctor attending your...mother in law is Dr. Lindway and when we spoke last she was just coming out of surgery," said Hu.

"What were her injuries?" asked Spencer.

"She was stabbed several times and she lost a lot of blood, it hit her spleen and some other organs and she suffered a rather nasty beating. The doctor is hopeful about her recovering though," said Hu. Kolkie handed him a card.

"Please have her contact us as soon as possible," said Kolkie. Spencer walked them to the door and showed them out. Spencer headed back towards the bedrooms. He found Catherine sitting in Abby's room. Abby had stopped crying and so had Catherine, but she was still very upset. Spencer touched her shoulder, but she wouldn't look at him. Spencer sighed and he made Catherine turn around so she would look at him.

"I don't want to see her...I don't want to talk to her...I...don't want her near me...I just...I don't..." Catherine just shook her head and she started to cry again. Spencer hugged her and tried to calm her down. He knew that Catherine had a bad time with her birth mother during her visits when she was a child, but she never really told him what happened.

"It's ok...shush it's ok," said Spencer to himself.

…...

_Stupid, stupid, stupid ...it was so sloppy and mistakes were made. Oh well...she might not make it and she hoped she didn't. The next time though, no mistakes. _


	3. Chapter two

Chapter two

Spencer woke up and rolled over to get more comfortable and noticed that Catherine's side of the bed was empty and felt cool to the touch. She clearly had been up for awhile now and he wasn't surprised. She had calmed down enough to go lay down and he took care of Abby. When he got her to sleep he found that Catherine was also sleeping or faking sleep, either way he knew that she needed to get some rest. Spencer got into the bed with her and pulled her close. He heard her sigh, but she said nothing and she held his hand tightly.

Spencer got up and saw a light on in the office down the hall. He opened the door and saw Catherine was sitting at her desk with two albums and a stack of photos. Catherine noticed a shadow fall across the desk and than Spencer was sitting next to her.

"Can I ask what you're doing?" asked Spencer. Catherine handed him one of the albums, he flipped through the pages and saw that it was scrapbook, it was from when they were children to about sixteen or seventeen.

"I asked your mom for some of these pictures. I told her I wanted them for Katie, I was surprised she let me have them. I was hoping to have them finished before your birthday, but I was sort of distracted by other things," signed Catherine. Spencer turned the pages and he couldn't help but smile. The time that went into this, the patience was just astonishing to him. Even though he had an eidetic memory it was something to have their lives represented in a book down to the smallest detail. The one she was working one right now was from when they first got back together.

"Catherine, this is just...no one has ever done anything this thoughtful for me and that includes two surprise birthday parties. Thank you." Catherine shrugged and Spencer shook his head and made her look at him.

"I'm serious." Catherine looked at the page she was working on, it was a picture of them at Morgan's house for a team get together. He and Catherine had been dating for awhile at that point, but it had only come out to the team a few weeks before this picture had been taken. Spencer had just come back from a prison interview with Gideon on the West coast and was running on very little sleep. He had been tempted to skip the party, but he knew that he would never hear the end of it on Monday morning when he came back to work. They went and about an hour into it, he fell asleep on her shoulder and Garcia had snapped the photo of him asleep and Catherine had this small grin on her face looking at him.

"She said I would never have a normal life...she even wrote it down so I would understand what she was telling me. Now I'm supposed to feel something for her because she almost died and I don't know if I can...I never felt like she loved me and she made me feel horrible about myself...your mom was more of a mother to me than she ever was. I'm just...I'm so mad at her right now! How dare she just come back into my life and..."Catherine's hands started shaking and she couldn't get the rest of the words out. Spencer took her hands in his and squeezed them lightly.

"Catherine, being mad at her doesn't make you a bad person." Spencer knew that what was she was thinking, it didn't take a profiler to figure that out. "It's ok that you don't know how you're supposed to feel. You've never had a relationship with your mother and suddenly you're expected to feel something for her." Catherine nodded and put her head on shoulder.

"So any ideas what I'm supposed to do now?"

"The police want to ask you some questions and you should go and talk to them. If you want me there with you, I'll be there. After that...whatever you want to do concerning her is up to you. I just want you know that whatever you decide is ok and I'll be with you. Ok." Catherine felt him running his hands through her hair and he kissed the top of her head. It was still amazing to her that after all these years he could still make her feel so safe and calm with such a simple gesture.

"Come on, you need to come back to bed." signed Spencer. Catherine took his hand and went back to bed with him. She curled up next to him and felt his heart beat, Spencer watched her drift back to sleep and than he found that he couldn't go back to sleep. The profiler in him was troubled by what the police had told him about the attack. _She had been stabbed...I didn't think to ask if it was a robbery. Was this random or did she know her attacker. Who is she really?_

…...

Catherine normally enjoyed the random Monday's off due to some holiday, however she now found herself dreading having a whole day off to sit and think. Abby was a creature of habit and was up by six wanting her diaper changed and her breakfast. Spencer was still asleep and she got out of bed and walked down to Abby's room. The baby was awake and was looking up at her hanging mobile and waving her hands up at it. Abby saw her and she started kicking her legs too wanting the attention. Catherine picked her up and put her on the changing table. Abby smiled at her and she started trying to eat her own hand. Once she was cleaned up, Catherine sat down with Abby and started feeding her. Abby closed her eyes and grabbed a hold of her shirt. Catherine smiled at her daughter and stroked her hair. Going back to work had been slightly depressing for her, she missed being with her all the time. However, she also missed her students so it was a catch-22. She enjoyed the little moments she got to spend bonding with Abby. Abby finished her feeding, Catherine re-buttoned her shirt and started burping the baby. Catherine felt Abby playing with her hair the way Spencer did. _I love you so much sweetheart...I could never leave you. Not like she did with me. _When she was seven she had been so excited to meet her mother and when she finally did it was the most hurtful and disappointing experience in her life.

Her own mother couldn't communicate with her, she didn't know sign and Catherine couldn't read lips. Catherine had tried using notes to communicate with her, but she insisted that Catherine talk to her. Catherine could talk, but signing and writing were much easier for her. It didn't seem to matter to her mother. The visits went on for about a month and the last visit was the worst for her. Her mother still refused to communicate with her and to make it even worse was the fact that the house had been full of people that weekend. Her mother and what Catherine could only assume was her mother's boyfriend had a party and none of the people there would talk to her. It was like being in a foreign country without a clue to what you were supposed to do. The kids there picked on her and her own mother didn't even come to her aid. She went home that Sunday in tears, she was unable to hold them back. She remembered sitting in the back seat of the car and her mother and boyfriend fighting up front. They were fighting and they kept looking back at her in disgust. When they dropped her off they didn't even wait for her to get to the door before driving away.

Catherine ran into the house, her father, grandmother, Diana and Spencer were all having dinner together. Her father took one look at her and was furious. He made her sit down and tell him what happened. Catherine remembered going up to her room and Spencer came up to her room to sit with her. She remembered that he reached out and took her hand.

"Please don't cry," signed Spencer.

"She hates me and she thinks I'm freak," signed Catherine between sobs. Spencer gave her hug.

"You're not a freak...I think your pretty cool." Even than he was always so nice to her and it was one of the many reasons she had fallen in love with him.

Catherine felt Abby burp and than she felt her start tugging on her hair. Catherine got up and looked at Abby. Her eyes were starting to get little brown flecks in them, the same color as Spencer. Catherine kissed the baby on her forehead and grinned. She meant the world to her and she could never imagine herself being so cold to her child. Catherine went to wake Spencer up and found that he was already awake and making coffee. She knew not to even try to have a conversation with him until he had finished his first cup. She sat Abby in her chair and gave her a toy to play with. She down across from Spencer with her own cup of coffee and some toast. He finished his first cup and than started on his second cup before starting a conversation with her.

"If you want I can see about going in late and go with to the police station this morning?"

"I was going to go in the afternoon if that's ok with you...I just need some more time to think things over," signed Catherine. Abby dropped her toy and started to whine, Spencer picked the toy up for her and gave it back to her. Spencer than reached over and took Catherine's hand.

"Ok than, just let me know when you want to go and I'll go with you." Spencer knew what questions they might ask her and he wanted to be there with her to help her through this. Catherine leaned over and kissed him.

"Thank you." He got up from the table and got ready for work. Catherine fixed him a travel mug of coffee and a small lunch to go. She played with Abby until Spencer came back into the living room.

"I just got a text from Garcia that we have a case, but it's local so if I can't go with you today I'll call the detective in charge and set up an appointment ok." Catherine gave him a very tired smile.

"Ok. Hopefully I'll see you tonight." He kissed her again and than bent down and gave Abby a kiss on her forehead.

"Have fun with mommy ok," signed Spencer to Abby. She grinned at him and started blowing spit bubbles. _Close enough to-goodbye dad, _thought Spencer leaving the apartment.

…...

Spencer hoped to catch Garcia before she started presenting the case. He knew that what he was asking her might cause trouble, but he wasn't about to let Catherine go into this blind. He knew that despite being mad at her mother and claiming she didn't care it wasn't in her nature to be cold to people no matter what they did to her. He of all the people in her life knew that better than anyone. Spencer got off the elevator and headed to her office. Garcia was there gathering up files and uploading things to her flash drive.

"Oh hey boo. I was just heading up."

"Actually can you help me with something and keep it just between us? Please?" asked Spencer. Garcia sat down her files and looked at him.

"What do you need?"

"Can you look up information for a Megan Brody and..."Garcia cut him off.

"Megan Brody...like fifty two year old Megan Brody who was attacked in her DC apartment yesterday afternoon and is in critical but stable condition Megan Brody?" asked Garcia going a little white.

"How do you know that?" asked Spencer. Garcia held up her files.

"She's our next case...Metro sent me the files this morning. Her next of kin was listed as a Catherine Reid, but I didn't think it was our Catherine. Oh god is she ok...why are you not home with her right now!"

"Garcia, Catherine hasn't seen her mother since she was seven and before that Catherine was only a baby when she left. To say that Catherine is still working some emotions out is an understatement. We had a chat at two am and she has today off to sit and try to think some things out. I was going to go with her to make a statement this afternoon, but it's clear that she's going to be giving it sooner rather than later. I'm going to have to talk to Hotch. Even though I've never met the woman, she is Catherine's birth mother and some might view it has a conflict of interest if I'm on the case. But..."

"You're first priority is to Catherine and you want to protect her. I really haven't started digging into the victim's lives, but if I find anything that could hurt Catherine I'll come to you first and..."

"No...this changes things. This is a case now and regardless of my feelings towards her, she is a victim and she deserves to be treated fairly," said Spencer even though Garcia was right, he knew that this would no longer be just something between him and Catherine and he wanted to try to protect her from whatever was going to come out. He knew that it might no longer be possible to keep her safe and to let her hear the truth or deal with this on her own terms was no out the window. _The important thing is to just be there for her, no matter what...I just need to be there for her._

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	4. Chapter three

Chapter three

"About four weeks ago a man named Daniel Conlley was murdered in his apartment located just outside the District and this message was craved into his wall," said Garcia bring up the crime scene photo.

"Unworthy," read JJ.

"Than yesterday afternoon Megan Brody was attacked in her apartment and barely survived, but our Un-sub left the same message." Garcia brought up the photo of Megan's apartment and in red paint on a mirror was the word 'Unworthy'.

"Victimology is all over the place: Conlley was an unemployed thirty six year old male and Brody is a fifty two year secretary at a law firm. They have almost nothing in common," said Morgan, Spencer took a deep breath looking at Conlley photo and tried to calm his nerves for what he was about to say. He and Garcia had talked about the case before going up and she showed him Conlley's photo and he felt everything freeze suddenly. Conlley wasn't a common name and other than the weight gain Spencer would always remember one of the ring leaders responsible for a great deal of his torment in high school. Daniel Conlley-the boyfriend of Alexa Lisbon and head quarterback. After seeing that photo they went right to Hotch to talk about what this could mean.

"You've never met Catherine's mother?" asked Hotch.

"It's her birth mother and no I haven't...Catherine hasn't even seen her in over twenty years."

"You said she was talking to Catherine at the park yesterday?" asked Hotch.

"I think she might have been following Catherine for sometime now," said Spencer and he told Hotch about seeing her at Catherine's lecture last month.

"She also got roses on Valentine's Day without a card...I think that might have been from her mother. Catherine has a routine that you can set a clock by and she could have been followed without noticing," said Spencer.

"And you haven't seen Daniel Conlley in years?" asked Hotch.

"I haven't seen him since I was twelve and Catherine has never met him before. I honestly don't know what is going on, if someone is trying to send me or Catherine a message I can't tell you what it is."

"Do you feel that you can handle this case objectively?" asked Hotch looking at him. He knew how protective the younger agent was of his wife, it was how he used to be with Haley and how he had been with Emily.

"I know Catherine had nothing to do with this and there is evidence to support that. Other than that I have no doubts about my ability to work this case." Spencer might not have liked Conlley and he had no clue what really happened between Catherine and her mother, but they were both victims and one of them had barely survived their attacker. _This Un-sub could kill again and regardless about how I feel it's my job to stop this._

"Ok. Let's present this to everyone else and see what we can do. Reid, we're going to have to talk to Catherine...maybe her father too. He might be able to shed some more light on what happened in their relationship," said Hotch.

"Her father is on vacation, but he should be getting back in a few days. I'll try to e-mail him," said Spencer. They left his office and started the briefing.

"Actually there might be a link," said Hotch. JJ and Morgan looked at him confused. Hotch explained what Spencer had told him.

"Is Catherine ok?" asked Emily.

"She's dealing with it, until yesterday she hadn't spoken to her mother since she was child. And until this morning I had no clue what Conlley was doing with his life," said Spencer.

"Ok...so these are people that have been absent from your lives for years," said Rossi.

"Conlley bullied you and Catherine's mother bullied her...could we be looking at someone who in some way is trying to help you guys," said Morgan.

"We haven't thought about these people in years so that makes no sense," said Spencer. "Catherine's mother did try to contact her, but Catherine didn't know it was her. If they wanted to help us, wouldn't they try to contact us before the murder and the attack?" The second he said Spencer felt a numb panic go through him. Catherine was home by herself with Abby. When she was on leave she took Abby for walks at a park near the school, today would be no different since she was off.

"Is Catherine teaching today?" asked JJ seeing how white Spencer had gotten in the last fifteen seconds.

"She's off today." He pulled out his cell phone and started texting her. _Please text back..._

…...

Catherine sat down on a park bench with her tea and tucked the blanket around Abby, the baby had drifted off to sleep in her stroller. Catherine kissed the baby on her forehead and settled in with her tea and her book, her mind drifted after a few pages. She put the book back in her bag and took a sip of her tea. She was torn about what she should do about...her mother. It felt so weird to call her that considering she never acted like her mother. Still it was hard to think that she was alone in a hospital bed with no one looking after her. _She didn't look after you...when you were in the hospital having your appendix removed? She wasn't there for you when grandma Maggie died or when dad had his heart attack. She wasn't there. _Abby lost her pacifier and start to stir in the stroller, Catherine reached into the stroller and gave Abby the pacifier. She dozed off again and Catherine brushed her hair back, it was getting long and it curled a little, much like her father. Catherine felt her phone vibrate in her bag and she fished it out. Spencer had texted her: _Where are you?_

_At the park. _She went to put the phone back in her bag when it vibrated again.

_I need you to meet me at the BAU ASAP! _Catherine replied that she would and she put the phone back in her bag and started walking back to her car with Abby. She got Abby back in her car seat and the stroller in the trunk of the car. She went to get in the driver's seat when she noticed the paper tucked under the wiper. Catherine tossed her bag unto the passenger side and grabbed the paper. She thought it was a flier from one of the local restaurants.

_You're welcome...she won't hurt you anymore._ Catherine felt the hair on her neck stand up and she looked around, she saw other cars in the parking lot, but it was mostly other mothers with their children. Catherine took the letter and placed it in her bag, her hands were shaking all the way to the BAU.

…...

Spencer paced nervously waiting for Catherine to get to the BAU. JJ and Morgan went to go talk to Alexa for some more details about Daniel. Hotch and Emily were looking into Megan's life. Rossi was waiting for Catherine to come in and was going to conduct her interview with Lacey translating for them. Spencer had offered to do the translating, but Hotch had said that it might create a conflict of interest to do that, Rossi was doing the interview since he and Catherine weren't that close. He could sit in on the interview and be there with Catherine as her husband.

"Catherine isn't a suspect and I promise to be nice to her," said Rossi. Spencer forced to himself to sit down. It was another ten minutes before Catherine came in with Abby, she looked pale and shaken, a piece of paper held tightly in her hand. Spencer went over to her quickly.

"Are you ok?" asked Spencer. Catherine shook her head and handed him the letter.

"That was under my wiper when I finished walking Abby at the park...I didn't see anyone leave it or anyone hanging around..." Catherine was starting to get flustered. Spencer made her sit down and Rossi brought her a cup of water, upon seeing how upset the young woman was. Spencer took the letter from her, he doubted they would get any prints off it. This Un-sub was smart and was clearly following Catherine.

"I'll give you a few minutes so she can calm down," said Rossi and he headed up to the conference room. Spencer took Catherine's hands in his and squeezed.

"Calm down...ok. Rossi is going to ask you some questions instead of the detectives at Metro and Lacey is going to translate. I'll be in the room with you," signed Spencer. Catherine nodded and looked at Abby.

"Garcia is going to look after her while we do the interview." Catherine brushed Abby's hair back and she gave him a very tired smile.

"She'll be in good hands," joked Catherine. The baby yawned, but stayed asleep. "Ok...let's do this." Spencer took her hand and they took Abby down to Garcia's office. She heard them coming and quickly minimized all her windows so Catherine wouldn't have to see the crime scene photos.

"Hey...there's my little girl genius. She is too cute for words," signed Garcia looking into the stroller. "Don't worry I will try not to corrupt her too much while you're away." Garcia hugged Catherine.

"Thanks Penny," signed Catherine. Spencer gave Garcia a nod in thanks and they headed back upstairs.

…...

"I haven't seen Danny in years and honestly him being dead is the best thing that ever happened to me," snapped Alexa sitting down in a chair.

The woman was in her mid thirties, she had an ice queen look about her, long blond hair pulled back in a tight bun, her blue eyes were cold and her skin was flawless. Morgan found himself at a loss for how he was supposed to feel about this woman. She had been someone who tormented Reid for no reason other than she could, but her ex husband was dead and he was here to try to help her. However, she seemed to be uninterested in what was going on with his case.

"Mrs. Conelly..." started JJ.

"Lisbon!" It's Lisbon now...has been for three years. I really don't care what happened to Danny."

"Because this person attacked someone else and we need to ask you some questions about Daniel," said Morgan coolly. Alexa sighed.

"Fine...what do you want to know?"

"Why did you and your husband divorce?" asked JJ.

"Because he liked to drink like the frat boy he used to be and I wanted him to grow up and be a father to our child. I got tired of being his punching bag and I wasn't about to let him touch my daughter. We got a divorce and I had some friends up here and they got us set up here. Didn't think he would find me. Than a few weeks ago the police come knocking on my door and tell me he's dead and honestly I just wanted to dance." _Karma is a bitch,_ thought Morgan.

"Anyone try to contact you after Daniel's death?" asked Morgan.

"Funeral home, debt collectors...his sponsor. Telling me that Danny cleaned up and really wanted to see us. That he was sorry for our loss. It really wasn't a loss in my book." JJ gave Morgan a look. She had no clue how this woman had messed with Reid, but she was having a hard time trying to connect with this victim.

"Do you remember his sponsor's name?" asked JJ.

"Jack something or other. I really don't remember and I don't care. Figures that he is gone and he's still messing with me."

"If you remember anything, please call us," said JJ handing him a card. Alexa took it dismissively.

"You think I'm horrible don't you...I really don't care. I just...I'm not sad that he's dead after all the shit he put me through."

"Who's dead?" asked a voice. Morgan turned around and a teenage girl was coming in the house.

"Savannah," said Alexa looking ashamed. She was the splitting image of her mother, however something about her gave off an air of being a good girl, something he imagined her mother never had been.

"What are they talking about?" asked the young girl.

"Nobody," said Alexa quickly. Morgan went over to the young girl, she had the right to know about her father.

"Savannah, my name is Derek Morgan I work with the Behavioral Analysis Unit."

"Oh like Dr. Reid?" asked Savannah. Morgan gave JJ a look. _I thought Reid didn't know what Conelly or Alexa was up to. _"I'm one of Mrs. Reid's student from the Drama club...what are you doing here?"

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	5. Chapter four

Chapter four

Morgan took Savannah up to her room so they could talk without her mother pressuring her.

"You can't talk to her without a parent!" snapped Alexa.

"Your daughter isn't a suspect, she's a victim so we can talk to her," said Morgan taking Savannah upstairs. The young girl was still in shock, she had just found out her father had been killed over a month ago and her mother didn't bother to tell her. Despite Alexa's feelings towards her late ex- husband, in Morgan's mind it was still shitty that she hadn't told the girl her father was dead. Savannah sat down on her bed and Morgan pulled up a chair and studied the room. He needed to help put this girl at ease.

"Bettie Page?" asked Morgan noticing a poster of the pin up queen in a swim suit. Savannah nodded.

"We had to give a report about a person who was controversial back in the day. I picked Bettie Page...she actually talked to FBI about what she did." Morgan nodded.

"So you know Mrs. Reid?"

"I go to Zeller and Columbia is like our sister school...so the Drama program is taught by her and Mr. Jackson. Mr. Jackson handles the stuff on stage and Mrs. Reid handles the backstage stuff. She helped me get an internship at a theater last summer and I sometimes babysit Abby. Is...is Dr. Reid working on this case too?"

"He is." Savannah nodded and it seemed to put her at ease that Reid was working on this too. "Do you mind if I ask you some questions about your parents?" Savannah shrugged.

"Will it help you get who...who killed my dad?" asked Savannah.

"It might." Savannah nodded. "When was the last time you talked to your dad?" Savannah blinked back tears.

"Almost three years ago...I tried writing him for awhile, but I never heard anything back. Than we moved from Georgia to here and I didn't give him an address or a phone number. I didn't see a point."

"When your parents were married what were they like together?" Savannah gave him a look that Morgan had seen on his sisters when their mother asked them a dumb question.

"You met my mother downstairs...her and my dad...I don't think..." Savannah took a deep breath and sighed. "I don't know if they were every happy together. I mean, they had to be at some point since they got married and had me, but something just...life didn't go how they wanted it go and it just made them mad at each other. Soon if mom wasn't yelling about something, dad was drinking something...which caused mom to yell more and dad to drink more and the Circle of Life goes on," said the young girl bitterly.

Morgan took her hand and squeezed. It made sense now why she gravitated to Catherine and Reid, it was why he had gravitated to Carl Bufford. They offered a sense of stability and normalcy. Unlike, Bufford he knew that Savannah had found herself someone who would really look out for her.

"In the past few weeks did anyone try to contact you or leave you any messages that seemed odd?" Savannah gave him a look.

"Do you think it had something to do with my dad?"

"What was it?" asked Morgan.

"It was just a note left on my car...it said something about everything was going to be ok. I just thought it was from one of those crazy church groups or something and I just threw it in the trash. Why?"

"Have you noticed anyone following you or mom or anyone new in your life that just showed up?" Savannah shook her head.

"No. I'm in school all day and than I do the drama club three days a week and than I have homework and stuff after that so...if someone was a creeper I didn't notice. Why?" Morgan sighed, she was a senior in high school, getting ready to graduate and she had clearly grown up in a house with parents who fought non stop, there was no point in sugar coating it for her.

"We think someone might be following you or your mom...watching you guys to see how you are."

"You think we know this person?" asked Savannah looking sick.

"We can't be sure but..."

"Oh god," muttered Savannah and she picked up her trash can and started throwing up. Morgan reached over and held her hair back. "I'm sorry." She started crying and Morgan gave her a hug and shushed her.

"Hey it's ok. This is a lot to take in all at once. Listen I think you need to get some rest. I'm gonna leave you my card and if you remember anything else you can either call me or Dr. Reid ok." She nodded and took a sip of water from a bottle on her desk.

"Thank you Agent Morgan." Morgan got up and left the room, shutting the door behind him. JJ and Alexa were still downstairs, but not saying anything to each other.

"Are you done upsetting her now?" asked Alexa.

"Why didn't you tell her that her father was dead?" asked Morgan.

"He hasn't been her father for years now and considering how upset she is now...he wasn't worth it. She has finals coming up and a scholarship to college. She's not going to screw up her life the way we did. Now if you're done dragging his mess through my life again I would like you leave." JJ and Morgan both left and they heard Alexa slam the door shut.

"I'm trying to understand how that nice kid could have that for a mother," said Morgan getting in the car and starting it.

"They apple fell really far from the tree," said JJ. Morgan drove to Metro PD. They had collected some things from Daniel Conlley's apartment, hopeful they had something about his sponsor or anything that would help them.

…...

Spencer took Catherine upstairs to the conference room where Lacey and Rossi were waiting.

"You remember Lacey?" asked Spencer. Catherine nodded and sat down and Spencer sat down next to her.

"It's alright, you don't have to be nervous," said Rossi and Lacey signed it.

"It's just a lot to deal with right now," signed Catherine.

"When was the last time you saw your mother?" asked Rossi. Catherine sighed and started signing while Lacey spoke for her.

"I was seven the last time I saw her and before that I was still a baby when she left."

"Do you know why she left the first time?" asked Rossi.

"I really don't know. My grandmother told me when I was older it was because of how things turned out when I was born and she couldn't deal with how I might have turned out."

"Which was how?" asked Rossi.

"I had brain bleed when I was born and I couldn't breathe for almost two minutes. My grandmother told me it was lucky that I made it, but for awhile it was touch and go. They knew it had caused my hearing loss, but they weren't sure about what else it could have caused...they thought I might have suffered brain damage. So even after I came home it was still touchy about how I would be." Rossi nodded when Lacey finished her translation.

"I say you turned out alright," said Rossi and Lacey signed it too her. Catherine turned a faint shade of pink. "Do you know why she came back when you were seven?"

"Not really...she just showed up and my dad asked if I wanted to see her. I did...I was just really excited about seeing her. I...it didn't go well to say the least. We had a language barrier issue. I grew up in a house where everything was signed to me or I passed notes to people who couldn't sign so it was never an issue about me being Deaf. When I went to visit her, she didn't know sign and she wouldn't write notes with me. She wanted me to either speak or read lips and it was just beyond me than. I mean I could talk, but it was difficult for me and I couldn't read lips so it was like being in a foreign country and not having a way out. We had three visits...each one was worst than the last. The last one...it was bad..." Catherine put her hands in her lap and she looked away. Spencer reached over and squeezed her hands.

"After that I didn't see her again and I really didn't want to," signed Catherine.

"She was abusive," said Rossi, it was more of a statement than a question and Catherine sort of nodded.

"She refused to communicate with me or even try to help me when I needed her too. When I did try to sign with her...she would cut me off...she would take my hands and hold them really tight so I couldn't sign." Catherine shook her head and Spencer took her hand in his. He had taken her hands in his when they were talking and held them, but it was different than what she was describing. He would do that to try and calm her down when she was upset and he was trying to get a word in, but what she was describing was a way of trying to silence her in the cruelest way possible. Rossi watched as Spencer held his wife's hand and gave Rossi a look that this needed to be wrapped up. _Understandable, this is his wife and he is looking out for her._

"Did your father ever talk about her? What they were like when they were married?"

"No...I only found a handful of photos of them together once when I was cleaning out the basement, but he never talked about her and I didn't want to know. My grandmother used to say some doors are best left closed and she was one of them."

"We might have to ask your father some questions about her. He might be able to give us some more information about your mother." Catherine sighed.

"I need some air," signed Catherine and she got up and left the room quickly. Spencer sighed, she had never talked about what happened with her mother, he had a feeling that she had been abusive to Catherine in the past, it explained some of her past issues about abandonment and why she tried so hard at times to be liked. _Her own mother didn't like her. _

"I think that's all for now. If you need to take her home, I'll tell Hotch for you," said Rossi.

"Just let me talk to her for a few minutes," said Spencer. Spencer got up and left the room, it took him a few minutes to find Catherine. She was sitting outside the BAU on a bench just looking off into space. He sat down next to her and took her hand in his. Catherine looked at him and she seemed at a loss for what to say.

"At this point in time I know it's a stupid question, but are you going to be ok?" Catherine shrugged before she started to sign.

"She would hold my hands in hers so tight that it hurt and she was yelling at me and I couldn't understand and she just got so mad at me and it was just so unfair..." Catherine just shook her head and Spencer reached over and took her hands. Catherine gave him a small smile.

"I never minded when you would do that...you were never mean about it and I was just happy that you were holding my hand. Silly isn't it?"

"No," signed Spencer. _I wanted to hold your hand too...I just didn't know it at the time. _He reached over and took her hand again.

"We should go get Abby back from Garcia before she spoils her anymore," signed Spencer.

"Yeah...she's most likely driving Penny crazy since her nap time is over." They went back inside and Catherine went to go get the baby from Garcia and Spencer went to talk to Rossi about contacting Catherine's father and he ran into JJ carrying a box up the conference room.

"Hey, where's Catherine?" asked JJ.

"She finished her interview and went to get Abby back from Garcia. How did your interview go?" JJ fought the urge to roll her eyes.

"She was...not very helpful. I had to sit with her while Morgan talked with her daughter."

"They had kids?" asked Spencer feeling pity for anyone who had classes with them. _God help anyone if she's like her mother._

"Only one...actually..." JJ sat the box down on the table. "We have another weird tie in with this case. Her daughter Savannah is in Catherine's drama class and...hey you ok?" She watched Spencer's face turn a slight shade of pink and than go white. The sweet quite girl who babysat his daughter, the girl who Catherine mentored and had come to her in tears over being seven weeks pregnant, a young girl that he cared about almost as much as Catherine and Abby was the daughter of a person who had been beyond cruel to him when he was child. _What the hell is this Un-sub trying to do?_


	6. Chapter five

Chapter five

Anderson was going to take Catherine and Abby home and watch the apartment until he came home. Spencer took Catherine off to the side, he needed to talk to her about Savannah, that her father was also a victim of this Un-sub and how he knew her parents from high school.

"You think the person who killed Savannah's father attacked...her?" asked Catherine.

"We think so." Spencer sat down and Catherine looked at him.

"Does this change what you think about her?" asked Catherine. Spencer looked down at Abby, she was awake now and was playing with own hand. It was so hard to wrap his head around, Catherine had gone out of her way to help Savannah when she first moved up here. She was so quite and reserved when she first came into the club.

It took awhile for Savannah to open up and once she did, Catherine found her to be very bright and funny. Spencer had gotten to know her indirectly at first and than during the summer she had sort of become a fixture at the apartment. She had helped Catherine move into the apartment while he was out of town taking care of this mother, she would come over after she had finished her day at theater where she was an intern and talk with Catherine about her newest project or what her and Saul were doing. He really didn't talk to her that much at first, after all she was Catherine's student and considering he couldn't talk to teenage girls when he was a teenager he didn't know what to say to her as an adult. Savannah had been the one to break the ice between them when she noticed his chess set while helping them unpack.

"Oh this is too cool," said Savannah pulling out one of his collector sets. "You play?" she asked.

"Sometimes," admitted Spencer putting some games on a shelf.

"Saul hates playing with me, I always kick his butt. How many sets do you have?" she asked pulling out three more sets. People had gotten him several sets over the years and since he really didn't play much anymore they just gathered dust.

"If you want you can have a set," said Spencer. Savannah looked over at him stunned.

"Oh...you really don't have too." She turn a shade of pink and started putting the boards on a shelf.

"I'm not going to ever use all these sets and I might end up taking some of them to Goodwill. So it's ok if you want to take one." A smile came to her face and she pulled out two more sets, both of them Lord of the Ring themed.

"Well it would be fun to beat Saul with Hobbits. Thank you." She was genuinely touched by the simple gesture and it showed. She was a sweet and shy person who just needed someone talk to. It was just unreal that her parents had been responsible for a lot of his tormenting in high school and that their daughter was coming to his home looking for someone to talk to.

"She's not her mother," signed Catherine noticing how he wasn't answering the question.

"That's what makes this so bizarre. She's so far removed from how her parents were I can't believe that she's their child." Catherine sat down across from him.

"She's still the same person and I'm asking you to please not think badly of her. She couldn't have known how they hurt you and you know she's going to want to talk to us..."

"Why can't she talk to her mother," interrupted Spencer. It was out before he could really think it through and Catherine glared at him.

"Considering how her mother treated you...you should know why she can't talk to her mother." Before he could apologize Catherine wheeled Abby out of the office and towards the elevator where Anderson was waiting to take her home. Spencer sighed and leaned back in his chair.

"How's Catherine holding up?" asked Morgan sitting down.

"She's trying to deal with how she feels towards her mother and being mad at me at this moment."

"Why? What did you do?" asked Morgan.

"I was sort of short with her about Savannah...I just..." Spencer had to arrange his thoughts. "I...I don't have any bad feelings towards her."

"You have them for her parents though and it's hard to separate," said Morgan. Spencer nodded. Alexa and Daniel had tormented him without mercy for the entire time they were in school with him and their graduation had been a relief to him. While the scars of what they had did to him had faded, they still reminded.

"I could never understand why they did the things they did to me and I hated them for it you know. But, Savannah is...she's a completely different person than her parents and I know that. It's just...what are the odds?"

"I don't know you tell me genius?" Spencer gave Morgan a look.

"Listen, I talked with Savannah and she's a good kid and of all the people in the world she could have chosen to look up to and count on, she chose you and Catherine. Trust me that girl needs someone to look up and she's really going to need it now. Her own mother didn't even tell her that her father was dead."

Spencer couldn't believe it. He knew from the case file that Daniel and Alexa had gotten divorced, but it was unbelievable that she wouldn't tell her daughter that her father was dead.

"God..." _Poor kid... _"Is she ok?"

"She put on a brave face for a while, but she's clearly going to want to talk to someone." Spencer nodded. _We all do._

…...

"This was clearly a blitz attack," said Emily studying the room where Megan was attacked.

"Our Un-sub sneaks up, stabs Megan and than starts beating her. According to the neighbors they heard a bunch of noise and someone came down to see what was going on," said Hotch reading over the report from the police.

"So our Un-sub wasn't sloppy they were distracted from finishing Megan off," said Emily.

"Organized enough to break in and have an escape route without being seen via the fire escape, but unorganized enough to not finish a kill," said Hotch looking around the room.

"But why Megan? Our last victim was a fit 30 something year old man, Megan is a 50 something year old woman. What do they even have in common?" asked Emily.

"Both haven't seen their children in years," said Hotch.

"They abandoned them. That's a big difference," said Emily looking around the room again. She went over to a coffee table and started looking through the mail to see if Megan had any mail other than bills.

"Have you talked to your mother recently?" asked Hotch. Emily gave him a look.

"What does that have to do with this case?"

"Just making conversation."

"Right...junk mail, bills...we should have Garcia check her e-mail and and computer. Same for Conlley." Emily pulled out her phone and called Garcia.

"Hi E, what do need?" asked Garcia.

"I need you to hack into Megan Brody's computer and Daniel Conlley if you have a minute," said Emily.

"Ok, I will call you once I have something my fine super friend," Emily thanked her and hung up the phone. Hotch was studying a cork board that Megan had in the kitchen, a few fliers for take out restaurants, a coupon book, and a list of meeting times for AA. There was also a business card for her sponsor, Donna Pett. Hotch took the card off the board and placed it in an evidence bag.

"Anything good?" asked Emily.

"AA sponsor. She might be able to give us some more information," said Hotch. Emily nodded.

"JJ said that Conlley had a sponsor that tried to get a hold of Alexa. Maybe she knows who." They left the building together, any other evidence that had been collected by Metro was now at the BAU, they had signed this case over to them in full. Hotch got in the driver's seat and Emily got in the passenger seat after she put the laptop in the backseat. They drove in silence for awhile when Emily's phone went off. She didn't look at the ID and answered the phone.

"Prentiss." It sounded liked a bunch of dogs barking at first.

"Prentiss...wow...so professional sounding," teased Kyle. Emily couldn't help but smile a bit.

"Where are you?" she asked since the barking dogs seemed to keep going.

"I promised someone if they got all A's on their report card I would get them a puppy. So I'm currently at a pound waiting for Jody to pick a puppy. Wanted to know if you were free for a late lunch so you could meet the newest addition?"

"Actually we're on a case right now...you mind a really late dinner?" asked Emily.

"Nope. I'll save you some leftovers," said Kyle. They said their good byes and hung up.

" You make dinner plans with Sergio now?" asked Hotch trying to tease her.

"That was Kyle."

"The guy who you were with on Valentine's day?" asked Hotch. There was something in his tone that annoyed Emily.

"Yes. He was buying his daughter a puppy since she got all A's on her report card and he wanted me meet the dog," said Emily.

"He seems like a nice guy."

"He is."

"I'm glad...that you met someone." Emily sighed. Their 'relationship' or whatever it was had ended soon after Haley died, but they were still close. Her decision to go after Doyle solo had hurt both of them and despite her coming back to the team they still hadn't really discussed what they were other than boss and co-worker.

"We're never going to talk about it are we?" asked Emily.

"Talk about what?" asked Hotch.

"That's what I thought."

…...

"Ok...both their bank records look clean, no crazy spending or large cash deposits. Now their other web activities that tells a fun story," said Garcia who had both victim's laptops on and was going through them, everyone was in the round table room comparing notes. "It's almost like deja vu."

"What do you mean?" asked JJ.

"Remember when we hacked Reid's dad computer and it was like Reid's whole life was there, well it's the same with Megan's computer. Except when I say whole life, I mean like her whole life: Her graduation announcements from high school and college, her marriage and divorce to Paul, her teaching record from Boston, her teaching records here, her marriage to Reid, Abby's birth...I'm surprised they don't have how many times she goes to the bathroom in day."

"So she was stalking Catherine?" asked Spencer stunned.

"Well it wasn't just Catherine. On Daniel's computer is was almost the same thing, expect it was with Savannah for the past few years, he even had her passwords to her Facebook page so he could see her private posts and pictures. Now you all know that I am the goddess of all things electronic, but whoever this is they are freaky good at what they do. I mean they pulled Catherine's hospital going back decades, they pulled Savannah's college acceptance letters and they haven't been mail yet. Someone was all up in their lives and gave them this information."

"But why?" asked Emily.

"It was like they wanted to be part of their lives again," said Morgan.

"That's it...they wanted to be in their lives again," said Spencer. "Look at what they pulled...it's personal achievements, failures and everything in between. They wanted back in, they wanted to feel like they didn't miss anything."

"But how did they get this information? It's not like Catherine's medical history or Savannah's college essay are public knowledge," said Rossi.

"So do we think this Un-sub got them the information?" asked JJ.

"It's possible. The Un-sub dug into their lives, got this information and found he didn't really like the people he was getting the information for and took them out," said Hotch.

"So this Un-sub really doesn't like what...neglectful and abusive parents who walk out on their children," said Emily.

"The notes left for Savannah and Catherine are in that tone, he did not like our victims and felt sorry for the people they hurt," said Morgan.

"So do we think this Un-sub is going to try and contact them again?" asked JJ. Spencer twisted his wedding ring without thought, it was just too creepy how thoroughly this person had dug into Catherine's and Savannah's life for people who hadn't wanted to be in their lives in the first place. _They had no right to do this._

"It's been over four weeks and no one else has tried to contact Savannah since her father's death. Catherine should be ok too," said Morgan.

"Than what is our Un-sub getting out of this?" asked JJ.

"I have no idea," admitted Hotch.

…...

Hotch sent them home around eight that night, Garcia was still looking over the laptops when Spencer went to say goodnight to her.

"Hey before you go...I sort of have something for you," said Garcia holding a folder and looking a bit nervous.

"What is it?" asked Spencer.

"I was looking through Daniel's computer and I found a folder with a bunch of untitled documents and I started looking through them and a lot them were letters to his daughter, a few to his ex-wife...one was for you though and I think you should read it."

She handed him the folder before he could say no. Daniel had been in AA and tomorrow they were going to try to locate his sponsor, if Daniel had been AA this might have been either Step 8 or Step 9 for him-making amends. He could see why he would write to his daughter and his ex-wife, but him. Unless Daniel was beating him up he ignored him. _Why they hell is writing me?_ Spencer shoved the folder in his bag and decided to head home to talk with Catherine. He got on the train and headed home, curiosity was starting to eat at him though. _Why did he write me._

When he got home Anderson was still there sitting on the sofa reading a book.

"Your wife is giving the baby a bath and she was nice enough to make me dinner. Am I staying the night?" asked Anderson.

"No I think were good here. Thanks Anderson," said Spencer.

"Any time," said Anderson taking his leave. Spencer sat his bag on the sofa and headed to the bathroom. Catherine was on her knees bent over the tub, she was using the baby tub for Abby. She was talking softly to Abby.

"You like bath time huh? You like playing in the water." Abby smiled at her and she started slamming her hands into the water and she splashed some into her eyes. She sat there stunned about had just happened and she seemed ready to cry. Spencer came into the bathroom and sat down next Catherine.

"Hey...hi honey," he said it and signed it to Abby. This distracted Abby from crying and she looked at her father happily. "Is she done?" Catherine nodded and Spencer grabbed a towel, took Abby out of the tub and wrapped her up tightly. Her diaper and pajamas were already in the bathroom so he was able to get her dressed quickly before she could start to fuss. Catherine watched as Spencer started to finger comb Abby's hair and talk to her. Abby reached up and started to play with her father's tie, she went to put it in her mouth and he took it back from her.

"Not everything goes in there," signed Spencer and she saw a smile cross his face.

"It's clearly dinner time," signed Catherine and he handed the baby back to her. Catherine took Abby into the living room to feed her. Spencer went into the kitchen to make himself a sandwich and than he came back into the living room to watch Catherine feed Abby. Abby had her eyes locked on Catherine and she had a fist full of Catherine's hair in her hand. Catherine was holding one of Abby's hands and she smiled at her. She finished her feeding and Catherine re-buttoned her top and started burping the baby. It was quite between them with the exception of the small sighs Abby was making. Spencer knew Catherine was a little upset with him, but wasn't ready to talk yet.

"I think she's asleep," signed Spencer. Abby had relaxed in Catherine's arms, she was breathing deeply and she was snoring lightly. Catherine handed him Abby, she was sound asleep and he sat there with her for awhile just watching her sleep. He wondered if Daniel had sat with Savannah and watched her sleep.

"Are you ok?" asked Catherine. He had such a sad and strange look on his face. Spencer laid Abby down on the sofa between them, he put a hand on her chest and felt her tiny little heart beat.

"Someday I'm not going to be able to hold her anymore or keep her safe and it scares me. I know that once Daniel had to feel that way for Savannah...no matter how much of a jerk he was to me he had to love his daughter at some point right. He missed her and he wanted to be in her life again...I don't think badly of her Catherine, not at all. She's just a kid and I'm not going to turn her away if she needs us."

Catherine reached over and took his hand, she knew that in his heart of hearts that he wouldn't. She herself was just angry and frustrated about everything that was going on.

"So what's going on with the case?" asked Catherine. Before Spencer could answer her, the door bell light went off.

"I'll get it," signed Spencer and he went to the door. He looked through the peep hole and saw that it was Savannah standing outside their door looking ill. _How many nights did I show up at Gideon's door when I was recovering looking like that?_ Spencer opened the door and she looked like she had been crying.

"I'm sorry to bother you."

"It's no bother, come in," said Spencer and he let her in. She came into the living room and Spencer followed her. Catherine was getting ready to put Abby to bed when she saw Savannah came in, the poor girl looked so much younger than seventeen at this moment and they both felt for her. Catherine adjusted the baby in her arms so she could give Savannah a hug. She hugged Catherine back tightly.

"I'm so sorry," whispered Catherine. Savannah took a step back and wiped her eyes.

"I was actually hoping to talk with Dr. Reid for a minute," said/signed Savannah. Catherine nodded and she took the baby to bed. Savannah couldn't seem to sit still and she paced for awhile before turning and looking at him.

"Agent Morgan said that you were working on my dad's case."

"My team is." She nodded and forced herself to sit down and she was visable upset.

"My mom...she doesn't know where he's buried and she told me that it doesn't matter. If you find where he is...could you tell me please? I just wanna...I need to..."

"You need to say goodbye." said Spencer. She nodded and than she put her head down and started crying. Spencer sat down across from her and after a moment's hesitation he reached over and gave her hug.

"It's ok...shush...I'll try to find where for you." Savannah wiped her eyes and pulled away.

"My dad could be a major jerk at times, but he was dad and I miss him. My mom refuses to even talk about it. I know she hates him, but she's being totally unreasonable about it." Spencer nodded, he knew that Alexa could be cruel, but this was beyond that.

"I'll try to find him for you." Savannah gave him a ghost of a smile and it was almost a mirror image of her mother.

"Thank you. I should get going before she gets home." She rolled her eyes and tried to give him another smile. "She's out with my Aunt Harper so who knows when she'll be back, but better safe than sorry right." _Harper...so their still friends._ Spencer reached into his bag and saw that Garcia had printed out all the letters, sorted them and paper clipped them. He handed her the ones that he had written just for her.

"Our technical analysis found these on your dad's computer and I haven't read them, but there are for you and you should have them." Savannah looked at him stunned, but she took the letters and stood up. Spencer followed her and walked her to the door. She turned around and gave him a hug.

"Thank you." she turned and left the apartment. Spencer sighed and headed back towards Abby's bedroom. Catherine had tucked Abby into bed and he found her in their shared office, she was looking at a stack of old photos taken back when her father had been in the hospital for his heart attack. She was sitting on his bed and Andrew was awake and unhooked from several machines. Spencer pulled up a chair and sat next to her.

"This was taken before he was released to go home. I stayed with him almost the whole time...the nurses teased me about not having a social life and that I was going to be smarter than the interns bossing them around." He knew how devoted she was to her father, it was how she was to all the people in her life.

"I couldn't leave him there alone. I hated the thought of him being alone...yet my mother is alone in a hosptial and no one is looking out for her."

"I'm sure the nurses are taking care of her," signed Spencer. Catherine shook her head, that wasn't what she meant.

"You said at some point Daniel must have loved Savannah...do you think it's possible that at some point she loved me?" Spencer leaned over and kissed her forehead.

"I'm of the mind set that it's impossible to not love you." Catherine gave him a look and just shook her head. She had questions, questions that had been bugging her on and off for years and now there were on in full force and she needed answers and the only person who could give them to her was her mother.

"Come on I think we both need some sleep," signed Spencer. They got ready for bed and Catherine took Spencer's hand and held it tightly. Catherine had made up her mind, she was going to the hospital after rehersal to see how she was and she fell in to a fitful sort of sleep. Spencer watched her fall asleep and than got up quitely and headed into the living room. He sat down on the sofa and pulled the letter out of his bag and stared at for awhile before reading it.

_Spencer_

_ I know this is long over due and is probably going to come across as odd or just me trying to cross something off a list, but I have to do this in order to try and move on with my life. This also might come across as selfish, since I'm doing it for my own piece of mind. But, I hope that it also gives you some piece of mind if this has been bugging you the way it's bugged me for the past few years now._

_ I know that this is probably a few years too late, but I'm sorry for how I treated you when we were in school together. It wasn't right...by any stretch of the imagine. I wish I had a good explaination for what we did and the only one I can come up with is that we were jealous of you. It's a poor reason, but it's the only reason I have on hand. For all intents and purposes I knew that my life was going to end after high school and it did. Your life on the other hand from what I've read is amazing, you help people and have saved lives. My marriage crashed and burned and I've heard through the grape vine that your married and have a little girl too. The only decent thing I've done since high school is my daughter-Savannah and I even managed to screw that up. She a good kid and she's going to go places. __She's a student of your wife and from what I've heard she's been helpful with getting her adjusted and into college next year. _

_ I owe you an apology for how I acted and now I owe you a debt of gratitude for looking after my little girl. She needs someone to look out for...Alexa can be a good mother, but she has her issues and won't admit to them. I'm not asking you to help Alexa, I don't have the right to ask you to help her after what we did. But if you could find it in you to keep looking out for Savannah...she needs someone to be a father to her and you've been more involved in her life over the past few years than I've been. I hope that you'll be able to forgive me someday and that this doesn't change what you think about her. You know she's nothing like me or her mother. I know that you are a better person than I'll ever be and that you'll do the right thing._

_ Thank you_

_ Daniel. _

Spencer sat the letter down and sighed. When he was younger he always wanted an explanation and apology for what they did to him. Now nearly eighteen years later he was getting the answers and they didn't make him feel any better. He actually felt sorry for Daniel now. _I'll look out for her...not for you though...but because it's the right thing to do._


	7. Chapter six

Chapter six

By the time Spencer got up around six thirty, Catherine was already showered and dressed, Abby was also dressed and fed. Currently the baby was in her high chair playing with bear and muttering to herself. Catherine was at the kitchen table sipping her coffee and looking over a lesson plan. It was clear to him that she had been awake for awhile now, the circles under her eyes were hidden by make-up but he knew that she was tired and stressed. Spencer poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down across from her.

"Did you sleep?" Catherine shrugged.

"A little. I...I think after rehearsals today I might go to the hospital and see how she's doing," signed Catherine. Spencer looked at her and his expression was unreadable.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" asked Spencer. Honestly...no she wasn't sure that she wanted to do this, but she had to. _I just need to know some things._

"Catherine," prompted Spencer. Catherine sighed.

"Did you want to see your dad after not seeing him for over a decade?"

"I was having dreams that he murdered a boy in neighborhood and wanted him arrested. I wanted to see him so I could make him pay for something he did. Either to me or to that boy. What are you looking for?"

"Answers I guess. I just...I look at Abby and I can't imagine walking out that door and never seeing her again. My own mother walked out the door when I was her age and she didn't look back. When she did look back she wanted nothing to do with me. How do you even start to make sense of that? I need to know Spencer."

"I'm just worried that this is going to hurt you more than help you." Abby started to whine and Spencer picked her up and calmed her down.

"I just need to do this or it's going to drive me crazy," signed Catherine. Abby started to wave her arms towards Catherine and he handed Abby over to her. The baby grabbed a hold of Catherine's necklace and started playing with it. Spencer watched as Catherine took the necklace away from her.

"Who's my silly girl...you can't have that...this is mommy's." Abby just looked at her and laughed.

"I just need to know Spencer," said Catherine softly and she placed a kiss on the baby's head. "I have to go. Will I see you tonight?"

"Depends on what we find." Spencer bent down so he was looking Catherine in the eyes. "I love you." Catherine leaned over and kissed him on the forehead.

"I love you too." Catherine picked up Abby's diaper bag and her own bag and headed out. Spencer sighed and went to finish getting ready. He was worried about what this meeting would do to her. She had the right to know why her mother left her, but would knowing why make it better. He had forgiven his father for leaving, but it still hurt that he had left him. Spencer poured a travel mug of coffee and grabbed his own bag from the sofa and headed out. They had e-mailed Andrew and were waiting for a reply and he was going with Emily to talk to Megan's sponsor. _Maybe she can tell me why she left Catherine._

…...

"Lilo can't have bacon honey. It's not good for her," said Kyle eying Jody as she tried to slip the dog a piece of bacon. The beagle pup whined and turned it's brown eyes to Emily for food.

"Nice try," said Emily taking a bite of her bacon. She had fallen asleep at Kyle's last night, she had woken up to find herself on his sofa covered up with blanket and her shoes on the floor being played with by the small tri-colored beagle pup that Jody had named Lilo. Luckily she had an extra go bag in her car and was able to shower and dress at Kyle's for work.

"But...she's hungry daddy," protested Jody.

"She's had her puppy food for breakfast and we'll feed her dinner when we get home," said Kyle. Jody frowned and chewed on her bacon. Kyle turned his back to finish making lunches. Emily shushed Jody and gave the pup a small chunk of bacon.

"I saw that Emily," said Kyle deadpan.

"They are right about daddies having eyes in their head," teased Emily. Jody laughed and Lilo simply put her head down knowing she had been busted.

"Jody go take Lilo outside so she can go potty," said Kyle.

"Kay," she left the table, scooped the puppy up and headed to the backyard. Kyle looked at Emily and just rolled his eyes.

"You sleep ok? I thought about waking you up to see if you wanted to sleep upstairs, but you were dead to the world."

"I slept ok. Thank you for letting me crash here."

"What are boyfriends with awesome sofas for?"

Kyle went to finish getting ready and Emily took another sip of her coffee. She knew people that would kill to have Kyle as a boyfriend: he was sweet-most guys would have expected something more sexual after a few weeks of dating. Kyle on the other hand was sweet enough to let her sleep on his sofa with no hanky panky. He was a nice guy-she couldn't count the times that either parents or students would come up and just say hello to him when they were out. He was clearly good with children. She liked Kyle, but she was starting to wonder if it would work. It really wasn't him, he was perfect on paper. It was her...he was too nice for her.

Emily heard Lilo outside letting out the beagle howl, Emily looked out the window and she saw an older woman in the yard bent down and was talking to Jody and holding the puppy.

"What the..." Emily went outside and than remembered she left her side arm back at the BAU.

"Can I help you?" called Emily, she moved quickly to get between Jody and the woman. Emily remembered her, she was the one who started the fight with Kyle on Valentine's day. _Jody's mother..._the resemblance was there. She had the same light blonde hair and green eyes that Jody did. However, her hair was thinner, she looked stung out and her eyes were dull. Emily could smell the booze on her. Jody looked up at them nervously.

"Can I have my puppy back?" asked Jody quietly.

"Sure baby," she bent down and gave Jody the puppy back.

"Jody, take Lilo and go back inside," said Emily. Jody looked up at her confused. "I'll be inside in a minute ok."

"Kay," Jody went inside and Emily turned back to the strung out woman and glared at her.

"Look I know you're Jody's mother and..." the woman cut her off.

"Damn right I'm her mother and you have no right to keep me from her," she snapped.

"I don't, but it's clear why Kyle doesn't want you near her. You smell like a bar and are clearly hung over!" hissed Emily.

"It's none of your business lady!"

"It is when you come over here like this and scare a little girl!"

"SHARON!" snapped Kyle and he marched across the yard. He grabbed the woman roughly by the arm and pulled her towards the driveway. "I've told you once, I've told you twice, I've told you a thousand fucking times Sharon! I don't want you near Jody when you're like this! Why can't you get that through your head!"

"It's not fair! She's my daughter!"

"I have full custody and you signed your rights away to Jody! Now I'm giving thirty seconds to clear off my yard before I call the cops!" Sharon ripped herself away and got in the car.

"This isn't over Kyle! Blood is a lot thicker than water!" She burned rubber driving away. Emily looked at Kyle nervously. She had never seen him mad and right now he looked ready to punch something or someone. Emily went over to him.

"You ok?" Kyle took a deep breath and his balled up hands were shaking.

"Yeah...yeah...I'm fine. She just...she wanted nothing to do with Jody and now she's showing up at my house wasted on a school day. And she wonders why I won't even let her have visits with Jody." Emily didn't know what to say.

"Daddy! Lilo pottied in the house!" called out Jody. Kyle shook his head and he took another deep breath and headed into the house.

"Lilo had an accident huh," said Kyle bending down to talk to his daughter. The dog was now playing with a chew toy and small puddle was in the kitchen. Jody look worried at the mess.

"She couldn't go outside cause of that lady."

"It's ok, she had an accident." Emily handed Kyle a bunch of paper towels and he cleaned up the mess.

"Do I have to go stay with her?" asked Jody.

"No!" said Kyle sharply tossing the paper towels in the trash.

"She said I had too." Kyle bent down and looked Jody in the eyes.

"I promise you that you will not have to stay with or see that lady ever again. Ok pea pod."

"Kay."

"Come on. Time for school." Jody went to get her backpack and Kyle went to wash his hands in the sinks. Emily leaned against the counter.

"You gonna be ok?"

"Yeah...yeah. Know a good lawyer?"

"I hate lawyers." Kyle gave her a smile and a quick kiss.

"See you tonight?"

"I'll try." Emily called out her good bye to Jody and gave Lilo a quick pet on the head and got into her car. _He has every right to keep that woman away from Jody, she's clearly no good for her. Still the way Kyle acted with her...it was a little scary._

…_..._

Donna Pett was an older heavy set woman with curly black hair and olive skin. She worked as a teacher's aide at a local preschool. She agreed to meet with Emily and Spencer during her lunch break.

"God...poor Megan," said Donna sitting down at a table in the break room. She gave Spencer an odd look when her introductions were made, but said nothing.

"I haven't been to see her yet. Um...has her...has her daughter been told yet?" asked Donna.

"She's been notified," said Emily. "As her sponsor, what can you tell us about Megan?" Donna looked nervous.

"We met about six months ago when she joined our group. She...she had a drinking problem for a very long time. She's been clean now for about two years now. She wanted to get in contact with her daughter again...it's why she moved here to DC...so she could be close to her daughter and her grand-baby. She was determined to try to make things right between them."

"Did she say how she found Catherine?" asked Spencer.

"Not really, I just assumed she did a Google or Facebook hunt for her. I told her though to be careful...that sometimes people don't want to open the door again to all that hurt, but Megan...she was stubborn though. She wanted so badly to be apart of her daughter's life again."

"Did she tell you why she left?" asked Spencer. Donna gave him a look.

"Megan told me that her daughter had married an FBI man who was a doctor. If you want me to be straight with you than you need to be straight with me," said Donna.

"I'm Catherine's husband and we're all in the same boat right now just trying to figure out what is going on," admitted Spencer. Donna nodded.

"Megan had a drinking problem and it was a bad one. She hid it from her husband, but after Catherine was born there was really no hiding it."

"The brain bleed," said Spencer. _Bleeding in the brain can be caused by the alcoholism...she's lucky. She could have suffer worse birth defects._

"She couldn't deal with the stress...and guilt so she left. She hasn't seen Catherine since she was an infant and now that her baby was having babies she really wanted to apologize to her," said Donna. _No...she came back when Catherine was seven...why would she lie,_ thought Spencer.

"Did you ever notice anyone following Megan or anyone in group that shouldn't have been there? Did Megan complain about someone bothering her at work?" asked Emily.

"Honey, I see Megan maybe three times a week. Two of those times are at AA and the other is sometimes a lunch or dinner date. I've never noticed anyone and if someone was bothering her she never said anything. Mostly we would just talk about our kids or grand kids," said Donna.

"Was there a Daniel Conelly in your group?" asked Emily.

"Not in our group, but I did hear one of the other groups saying that one of their members had passed a few weeks ago. Danny was his name...I think his sponsor's name was Jack something or other."

"Can you give us that group's information?" asked Spencer. He was worried that she would say no. It was the nature of these groups to be private so people could come in and get help.

"Will this help you get who attacked Megan?" asked Donna.

"It might," said Emily. Emily handed her a pen and piece of paper, Donna took them and scribbled down some info for them. They thanked her for her time and turned to leave.

"Dr. Reid," called Donna, he turned around and she gave him a very small smile.

"Megan also said her daughter married a very sweet man who took very good care of her. She was right." Donna went back inside and Emily just shook her head and looked at him.

"She's right you know."

…...

"Ok guys...we have lots of cool stuff coming in the next few weeks. We have our final competition and than Senior night will be our big finale," said/signed Kyle. Catherine watched him and it was like watching a human Golden Retriever, he was so excited about putting these last two shows on.

"We need some really good ideas for Senior night," said/signed Kyle. The kids started rapidly signing and talking."

"Can we Katy Perry?"

"No...let's do One Direction!"

"Screw that we need something kick ass."

"Language," signed Catherine. It soon dissolved into kids trying to sign and talk over each other and Catherine looked over at Kyle and just shrugged. He had to whistle and wave to get the kid's to pay attention.

"Ok let's focus. I...well Mrs. Reid and I had an idea for you guys. Dedications...think of who got you to this point and how they helped you. Ok let's get to work on the competition numbers."

Kyle took the on stage kids to rehearse and Catherine took the other kids backstage to start working on costumes. They started on their assignments and Catherine went into the her mini office to see what other patterns they might have to work with. They worked for over an hour and than the kids started to head home. Catherine was getting ready to pack it up and get Abby from the daycare when Savannah came in. The poor girl looked so tired, Catherine was surprised to see her in today.

"I didn't want to stay home and stew," signed Savannah. Catherine nodded.

"How are you holding up?" She shrugged.

"I've had better days. My mom doesn't wanna talk about it...my aunt Harper's been really nice though even though she's not really fond my dad either. I'm starting to think I'm the only one who's sad that's he's gone."

"Have you talked to Saul yet?" asked Catherine.

"Talking to Saul might lead to having another conversation that I'm not ready to have." Savannah looked around to make sure everyone was gone before going on before sitting down. "I'm actually looking into giving it up for adoption. This is DC...if there is a chance of being able to give it a good life...it's here right. People are loaded and they could give it the life that I can't...that I won't ever be able to provide. I just don't know if Saul is going to see it that way."

"You just need to talk to him. I know it's not going to easy and it's going to be scary. But remember this is your decision and don't let anyone make you feel badly about how you chose to handle this."

"Thanks. I should get home. See you later," Savannah picked up her things and headed out. Catherine gathered up her things and went to get Abby from the daycare across campus. Catherine locked up the scene shop and went to say goodbye to Kyle. She headed out to the stage and saw that Kyle was clearly yelling at a blonde woman who was also yelling at him. It was impossible to make out what was being said, but it was clear that none of it was good.

"Kyle do you need me to call campus patrol?" called Catherine. The blonde woman turned and glared at her. She turned back to Kyle and clearly started mocking her. Kyle shook his head no and grabbed the woman by the arm and marched her backstage. They were there for several minutes before Kyle came back.

"Sorry about her...I promise she won't be back on campus again," signed Kyle.

"Who was that?" asked Catherine. Kyle just rolled his eyes.

"A pain in my ass that won't go away. I have to pick up Jody, so I'll see you later ok." Kyle waved good bye and left. Catherine sighed, just when she thought things had settled down everything got turned upside down. She left the school and walked quickly across campus to pick Abby up. The baby was laying in a crib playing with a toy. She looked up and saw Catherine and she smiled up at her. Catherine bent down, took her out of the crib and hugged her tightly. _At least things with you are drama free...for now._

…...

"I don't understand. Megan tried to see Catherine and someone attacked Megan. Catherine isn't a suspect though. This is very confusing," said Andrew. He and Erin were on a layover and he finally got a chance to check his messages and he called Spencer. Spencer took it to the conference room and placed it on speaker with Emily in the room.

"Andrew I know this is really confusing and most likely something you never wanted to talk about, but we need to ask you some questions about Megan," said Spencer. There was a long pause on the other end and Spencer heard Andrew sigh defeated.

"I don't see how it will help. What do you need to know?" Emily took the lead.

"Your ex-wife was part of an AA group here in DC. Did she have a drinking problem when you were married?" The pause went on for what felt like forever.

"I didn't know it at first...not until Catherine was born. Megan's drinking thinned her blood, she went into labor early and it was difficult. We got lucky, but Catherine's hearing was shot and she was placed in NICU. The doctors weren't sure if she would be ok. We fought, Megan promised that she would give up drinking...than one day I came home. Catherine was upstairs crying and I called out to Megan to get her and nothing. I went upstairs and Megan's stuff was packed and Catherine was in a crib alone. All I got was a note saying she was sorry..."

"Why did you let Catherine go and see Megan when she was seven?" asked Spencer trying to wrap his head around the fact that her mother had literally abandoned her.

"She was her mother and I thought after seven years she would have changed. I was wrong...I...are finished?"

"Did Megan try to contact you again?" asked Emily.

"She did a few months before Abby was born. I told her Catherine's life was none of her business and to stay away from her. But I didn't tell her where to find Catherine so I have no idea how she ended up in DC."

"I think that's all we're going to need for for now Andrew. Thank you," said Emily.

"Does Catherine have to know about this?" asked Andrew sounding fearful. Spencer's phone buzzed and it was a text from Catherine asking if he could meet her outside.

"I won't tell her unless she asks," said Spencer.

"Alright. I have to go." Before either one could add anything else the call disconnected. Emily shook her head.

"Reid?" asked Emily. She could only imagine how hard this was for him to hear how cruel this woman had been to the person he loved.

"Catherine is downstairs. Can you..." Emily cut him off.

"Take all the time you need. I'll talk to Hotch."

"Thanks." Spencer got up and headed outside. He found Catherine sitting outside on a bench looking at Abby in her stroller. He sat down next to her and she shook her head.

"I stood outside her room for almost twenty minutes and looked at her...I couldn't go in though. She...she looked horrible and I can only imagine how much pain she's in and I couldn't go in that room." _She was hooked up to more machines than her father had been after his heart attack and she looked worse than Spencer had after he came back from Georgia. She felt the nurses looking at her and her hands felt numb. Abby had fallen asleep during the car ride and she was still asleep sucking on her pacifier. This was her granddaughter and the only reason she knows about her is because I blogged about her and talked about her at a public lecture...god..._

"It's ok," signed Spencer.

"I just froze." Catherine looked down and Abby was starting to wake up. "I just...are you guys getting any where?"

"A little...we're still trying to find Daniel's sponsor. Garcia is still going though the laptops and trying to see what overlap they have."

"I should head home so you can get back to work," Catherine went to get up and Spencer grabbed her hand.

"Catherine..." Spencer shook his head and hugged her tightly. "I love you."

"I love you too." Spencer bent down and tucked the blanket around the dozing infant. _I couldn't imagine just leaving you all alone like that. _

…...

_The room was a bloody mess, but it was important that there be no mistakes this time. Sharon was on the floor and was still gasping for air and twitching on the floor._

_ "You really thought that you could be a good mother after all this time?" Sharon twitched again when kicked in the ribs._

_ "Please..."she moaned. "Stop it." The final stab was right to the heart. Sharon let out a final wheeze before dying. Good riddance to bad rubbish. _

Notes-Sorry for the delay. My husband and I just adopted our own little doggie and see demands that I love her. However she is a good girl once I decide to sit down and write she lays on her end of the sofa and sleeps on my feet. Her way of making sure I stay.


	8. Chapter seven

Chapter seven

"How do you just walk away from your kids?" asked Morgan. JJ looked over at Morgan confused. They were driving to where Daniel's group normally met on Tuesday night.

"You mean me personally...like when we leave town for cases?" asked JJ even though she had a feeling she knew what Morgan was getting at.

"Nah...I mean Savannah is a teenager and Catherine was a baby and they needed their parents. No matter how old you get your parents are supposed to be the people you can count on and trust. How did they just walk away from their children like that and than just think that coming back is going to make things ok?" asked Morgan.

"Honestly. I have no idea. Every time we have to go away it hurts a little, but I know that the people we're putting away is keeping Henry safe. I couldn't walk away from Henry the way Conlley and Catherine's mother did. However, Conlley was clearly in a very unhappy marriage and from what Emily told me Megan had a drinking problem and maybe some postpartum depression issues over Catherine's hearing loss. Maybe they figured they would be better off without them until they got their act together," suggested JJ. Morgan parked the SUV in the community center parking lot and they went inside. The meeting was on the third floor and it hadn't started yet.

"Can we help you?" asked a man in his early twenties with close cropped brown hair who was setting up chairs.

"I'm SSA Morgan and this is SSA Jareau. You mind if we ask you some questions." They showed their badges and the young man looked nervous, but he came over to them. He was wearing a name tag: Josh.

"So who's in trouble and how bad is it?"

"The name Daniel Conlley ring any bells?" asked JJ.

"Danny?" Morgan nodded. "Yeah...yeah...it really sucked what happened to him. He was almost six months clean, just got a job and his own place. Was really turning his life around you know? Why...he's not in trouble after the fact is he?"

"We're looking into his murder. Do you know who his sponsor was?" asked Morgan.

"Jack."

"Jack have a last name?" asked JJ.

"We don't know last names. But I can get you his number."

"Is Jack due in tonight?" asked Morgan.

"He's been really depressed about Danny. They were close...not in that romantic way if that's what you're thinking. They were buds though, Jack lost his kids due to his drinking so he understood how Danny felt about not seeing his kid."

"Danny talk about his daughter?" asked JJ. Josh looked nervous and he motioned that they should step into the hallway.

"I don't know what I should tell you guys. I mean we're not shrinks with an oath, but we do take what is said seriously and I mean some of these guys were real shit heads before they got clean."

"Danny is dead and whatever you can tell us might help catch who killed him," said JJ. Josh sighed, but he called back into the room.

"Hey...Brad start without me ok."

…...

"How's Cat?" asked Emily.

"She went to see her mom, but she couldn't go into the room. Catherine actually felt bad that no one was taking care of her. Now that I know what I know about Megan...there is part of me that wants to tell Catherine that she shouldn't feel bad for her considering what she did to her. But, as a profiler I know that Megan had an illness with an addiction issue and she was in no shape to be a parent to a child, especially to a Deaf child. However, I know how much she hurt Catherine...and I can't forgive that. She made Catherine feel horrible about herself and she was child. Catherine would never do that to Abby."

"That's because Catherine wanted to be the mother she never had to Abby. Just like you wanted to be the father to Abby that you didn't have. Both of you were badly hurt by your parents so you can't even fathom hurting Abby. Reid, I don't know if you should tell Catherine about this. If you think this going to do more harm than good to her."

"She wants to know...she wants to know why her mother left her. I know what that is like."

"Your dad left you because he felt guilt about not being able to protect you. Her mother walked out on her and she's lucky that nothing happened to her while she was alone. You and your dad have been able to come to some sort of relationship. Do you really want Catherine having a relationship with her?"

"I've never told Catherine what she can and can not do. She wants to know why and I don't think she shouldn't have to find it out from someone she doesn't know." Spencer was going to talk to Catherine when he got home. At least if he told her the truth he would be able to talk to her and comfort her. Emily sighed, she knew that Spencer's and Catherine's relationship was based on an almost unflinching honesty with each other. Maybe it was all the years they had know each other or the fact that when they did try to hide things from each other it ended up almost ruining their relationship. Either way, she knew that if Catherine got this information from Spencer it might hurt her less.

"So...our Un-sub is targeting parents who leave their children...how would the Un-sub know this?" asked Emily.

"If both our victims were members of an AA group they might have shared their stories. Something might have triggered his rage."

"But why these victims?" asked Emily. "There are lots of people who go to AA and I imagine a lot of them have walked on there families...but these victims...Daniel choked on his own blood before bleeding out. Megan was beaten within an inch of her life after being stabbed repeatedly."

"This Un-sub clearly has rage issues and the rage increases with each kill. Ok...let's look at the first victim. This might have been the Un-sub's stressor," said Spencer.

"The kill is quick and efficient. No hesitation marks, no sign of forced entry or a struggle," said Emily.

"It is possible that Conlley knew his attacker and let them in. Conlley was over 6'5 and even though he was out of shape, he would have put up a fight had it been a blitz attack. Our Un-sub was clearly someone he knew or thought he knew. Someone he wouldn't see has a threat," said Spencer. JJ and Morgan walked into the conference room along with Hotch and Rossi.

"So what do we have so far?" asked Hotch. Morgan spoke up first.

"We spoke to Conlley's AA group leader Josh. He painted a picture of a guy who was trying to fix his life."

"And before?" asked Hotch.

"Not a good guy," said JJ. "He told Josh that he and his ex-wife who is also a drinker used to get into physical fights when they were drinking. They both used to hit each other during these fights, he admitted to having affairs while married. They only reason he married Alexa was because she was pregnant with their daughter and after while even that wasn't enough to make him stay with her. He left her and figured Savannah was better off without him."

Spencer twisted his wedding ring without thought. He always wondered what sort of life they had after high school. When he was younger he wished that something horrible would happen to them, but this was even beyond him.

"We're still looking for Conlley's sponsor-Jack with no last name at this time," said JJ.

"The name Jack came up in the other group also," said Rossi. He and Hotch had gone to talk with some more members of the group that Megan had belong too. "Someone named Jack was also a sponsor with Megan's group."

"Conlley's group was just for men and Megan's group was mixed. So we're looking at a male Un-sub," said JJ. Before anyone else could add on, Garcia came into the room looking horrified.

"Guys...they found another body."

…...

Catherine had finished her grading and was now sitting on the floor with Abby and was playing with her. Abby laughed at her and grabbed at the toy she was offering her.

"You like the monkey...huh who likes her monkey?" asked Catherine. Abby tried to copy her hand movements and Catherine bent down and kissed her forehead. _Did she learn how to sign? We could never talk because she didn't know how to communicate with me. _The doorbell light went off and Catherine handed the baby her toy and looked out the peep hole. Kyle was standing there holding a pizza. Catherine shook her head and opened the door.

"Since Emily is at work, I figured your significant other was also on duty. You want dinner?" asked Kyle. Catherine let him in.

"Where's Jody?"

"Girl scouts. I also figured we could talk about Senior night and what we want to do for next year?" Kyle sat the pizza down and grinned at Abby. They both sat down, had dinner together and talked about what numbers they should do for Senior night and doing another play for next year.

"Grease...we should totally do Grease," signed Catherine.

"Maybe if we beg really hard we can get the rights to Book of Mormon," teased Kyle. Catherine couldn't help it and she let out a small laugh. It was the first time she had laughed at almost anything in two days. Kyle gave her a look and took a sip of his soda.

"So my work spouse...you seemed a little down today and we didn't really get to talk today so what is going on up there?"

"It's a long story."

"Jody is at fundraiser selling cookies so I have a long time to kill." Catherine sighed and fiddled with a piece of crust. Abby started struggling in her chair, Catherine put her over her shoulder to calm her down.

"I've told you about my mother right?" asked Catherine. Kyle nodded and Catherine filled him on the events of the past few days involving her mother and the case that Spencer and Emily were working on. Kyle was speechless when it was finished.

"Damn...damn that...well it really sucks and I wish I knew what to say."

"Well there really is no Hallmark card for this situation."

"That would be an interesting card...sorry your parent was a deadbeat. Have this wonderful card with a bear on it," joked Kyle. Catherine couldn't help but give a small laugh of the mental image of such a card.

"I say we quit teaching and make greeting cards," signed Catherine.

"We might make more money. But, really are you going to be ok?"

"Seriously...I have no idea what I'm supposed to do now and my mind has been going in circles for almost two days now." Kyle went to say something else when the front door open and Spencer came in.

"Hey," he signed and Catherine could see that he looked nervous for some unknown reason. Catherine stood up with Abby and gave him a hug that he returned, but it felt odd to her. _Oh god...what happened?_

"Hi. Sorry we didn't leave you any," said/signed Kyle standing up and picking up the pizza box.

"It's ok," said/signed Spencer. Kyle went into the kitchen to throw the pizza box out and Spencer grabbed her arm tightly and pulled her towards the door.

"What the..." said Catherine out loud. Hotch and Morgan came into the apartment with vests on and guns drawn. Catherine watched Kyle walk out of the kitchen and look at the scene in front of him in horror. Spencer pulled her outside and Catherine felt Abby start crying in arms from being startled.

"What is going on?" asked Catherine. Before Spencer could answer Kyle was being hauled past her in cuffs looking terrified.

"Spencer?" asked Catherine.

"Kyle is our Un-sub."


	9. Chapter eight

Chapter eight

_A few hours earlier_

"Damn," muttered Morgan has they walked into the apartment of the victim. Blood spatter covered almost every wall in the room and the victim laid in a pool of her own blood face down. The word: Unworthy had been written in blood this time. This was their Un-sub.

"I guess the Un-sub didn't want to make the same mistake that was made with Megan," said Rossi. The techs were photographing and collecting physical evidence, it was up to them to collect a different sort of evidence.

"Victim's name was Sharon Huron," said JJreading the name off the driver's license she had been handed by a tech. Emily felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up, but said nothing.

"This apartment is different than the other two victims," said Spencer looking around. This apartment reminded him of when he had been struggling with drug use. It was filthy: dishes that were weeks old, trash that was over flowing and clearly days old, bottles and cans of booze covered both a table and a counter, the smell was almost overwhelming and Spencer was half tempted to ask if he could open a window for air.

"Are last two victims were trying to clean up their lives and it showed in their living spaces. This victim was clearly on a downward spiral and in no hurry to leave it," said Spencer looking at the unopened beer and wine.

"Maybe she was part of program and fell off the wagon," suggested Morgan.

"I don't think booze was the only issue," said Hotch pulling out several pill bottles.

"So our victim was into harder stuff and was going downhill. Why did our Un-sub pick her?" asked JJ. The guys from the crime lab rolled the victim over and her face was so messed up that Emily couldn't recognize her. _It can't be the Sharon from this morning...it can't be._

"We have some prints, but it might take a while to determine who's prints they are," said a tech, his name read Cortes on it was collecting from the bottles and glasses on the table.

"No signs of forced entry and out through a fire escape," said Rossi studying the door. "Our victims either know our Un-sub or there is a ruse that gets them in the door." The tech was looking through the purse for JJ.

"Cash is here, checkbook is here and wow...someone had a great job," said Cortes. JJ pulled on a pair of gloves and Cortes handed her a check.

"Someone wrote our victim a check for six thousand dollars," said JJ handling the check carefully.

"Maybe she was selling," suggested Spencer.

"That's a lot drugs," said Morgan.

"The check was made out by a Kyle Jackson," said JJ. Emily looked down at the ground worried and Spencer felt his own sense of panic kick in.

"What is it?" asked Hotch watching two of his agents look panic stricken at the same time.

"Catherine works with a Kyle Jackson and he teaches at Savannah's school...it could be another Kyle Jackson in the DC area. Jackson is a very common name" said Spencer

"But this is a Jackson that knows family members of the victim," countered Hotch and he went out into the hallway to call Garcia to have her run a back ground check on Kyle Jackson.

"Emily?" asked Rossi noticing the young woman's discomfort.

"This morning...Kyle's ex-girlfriend showed up at his house drunk and was threatening to take his daughter from him. Her name was Sharon," admitted Emily. No one said anything and than Morgan spoke up.

"This room shows a lot of overkill Em."

"Kyle didn't do this," countered Emily. Before anything else could be said, Hotch came back into the room with Garcia on speaker.

"Ok...Kyle Jackson, born in Ohio and had a clean record until he was seventeen. His parents died in a car crash that year and he moved to New York and got into trouble: smoking pot, underage drinking, the typically I lost my parents and I'm going to act out sort of stuff. He settled down and started going to school out that way, things are good until about five years ago when he was arrested for a domestic disturbance. The complaint was filed by our victim, however it looks like Kyle was on the losing end of that fight." Garcia sent them pictures of the police report and it showed Kyle with a black eye and a broken nose.

"It looks like he has a daughter," said Garcia.

"Yes, Jody," said Emily.

"Yeah the court records show Sharon signed off her rights after the baby was born. Kyle was given custody and he adopted her when she was a year old."

"Adopted?" asked Emily.

"Yeah, Kyle took a DNA test when Jody was born and Sharon signed her off to Social Services. Kyle was not a match and he convinced a judge to let him file for adoption...it looks like Sharon was trying to petition the courts in DC to reinstate her parental rights," said Garcia.

"That could be a stressor," said JJ. "Someone threatening to take your child."

"Why the other victims?" asked Spencer.

"They were parents who gave up on their children. They reminded Kyle of the ex who gave up his daughter," suggested Rossi.

"This is crazy," said Emily.

"When did the first murder occur?" asked Hotch.

"We were on a case in Iowa," said Spencer.

"The afternoon of Megan's attack?" asked Hotch.

"We were here...I didn't see Kyle that weekend," admitted Emily.

"Tonight?" asked Hotch glaring and Emily glared back.

"I've been working."

"We need a rush on all those prints. If we find a trace of him in here, we need to bring him in," said Hotch..

"We don't even have a working profile yet," said Emily.

"We shouldn't rush into this Hotch," said Rossi.

"Our Un-sub is male and most likely in his early to mid thirties. The room shows rage, overkill on a personal level we haven't seen with the other victims. Kyle knows the family members of our last two victims. If that isn't cause for a warrant than give me a reason?" asked Hotch coldly. Emily said nothing, but she glared at Hotch.

It took an hour for a hit to come through on the prints, they found Kyle's print on a bottle and on the door knob outside the apartment. Hotch got a warrant. Rossi went with JJ to search Kyle's house, Emily went to get Jody from Girl Scouts. She remembered that the young girl had a meeting tonight and Emily didn't want her picked up by strangers. Garcia was running a trace on his cards and cell phone to see where Kyle might be.

"He just used his card it at a pizza place near...oh dear," muttered Garcia.

"What?" asked Hotch.

"It's a block away from Reid and Catherine's place." Spencer felt that mind numbing sense of panic again. "His cell phone is pinging in that area."

"Catherine wouldn't think twice about letting Kyle in," said Spencer.

"Get her and Abby out of the apartment." Spencer started texting Catherine and wasn't getting an answer. Morgan called Metro PD and they were waiting with the sirens off when they got they.

"One of my agent's spouses and child are in the apartment. Let him go in and get them out and we'll go in for the Un-sub," said Hotch to the officer in charge.

"We don't believe he's holding them hostage, but we don't want to scare him into hurting them," said Morgan.

"Reid..."started Hotch. Spencer still had his gun holstered, but wearing a vest wasn't an option.

"I can do this," said Spencer. Metro kept people from leaving the building or their apartments. Spencer forced himself to take a deep breath and walk into the apartment. Catherine was sitting on the sofa with Abby and Kyle was sitting in the chair opposite of her.

"Hey," he signed and Catherine gave him a look. She could tell something was going on. Catherine came over to him with Abby and gave him a hug, he hugged her back, but he kept his hand near his gun just in case.

"Hi. Sorry we didn't leave you any," said/signed Kyle standing up and picking up the pizza box.

"It's ok," said/signed Spencer. Kyle went into the kitchen to throw the pizza box out. _This could be our only chance to get out of here. _He grabbed her arm tightly and pulled her towards the door quickly and without warning.

"What the..." said Catherine out loud. Hotch and Morgan came into the apartment with vests on and guns drawn. Catherine looked at him confused and horrified about what was going on. They watched Kyle walk out of the kitchen and look at the scene in front of him in horror. Spencer pulled her outside and Catherine felt Abby start crying in arms from being startled.

"Kyle Jackson! FBI! Get down on the ground?"

"What is going on?" asked Catherine. Before Spencer could answer Kyle was being hauled past her in cuffs looking terrified.

"Spencer?" asked Catherine trying to stop the baby from crying.

"Kyle is our Un-sub."

"What?" Catherine looked at him even more confused.

"You ok?" asked Morgan coming back upstairs.

"What the hell is going on?" asked Catherine out loud.

"Can you give me a few minutes?"

"Sure thing kid," Morgan went back downstairs and Spencer ushered Catherine and Abby back into the apartment. Catherine had managed to quite Abby down and she looked at him torn between being pissed off and scared out of her mind.

"I tried to text you..."

"My phone died and it was charging. What is going on Spencer? You think Kyle attacked my mother. He never met her! It doesn't make any sense."

"Catherine another woman was attacked and killed tonight in her apartment, the same way that Savannah's father was killed and the same way your mother was attacked. She was Kyle's ex girlfriend and she was Jody's mother." Catherine's face went white.

"Oh god," she muttered out loud and sat down. "It's not possible...he...was she a blonde?"

"Why do you ask?" Catherine looked even more worried and she twisted her wedding ring.

"After we finished rehearsal today...he was fighting with someone. A woman she was blonde and he looked really pissed off...but Kyle wouldn't hurt anyone."

"I know this is all a lot to take in right now. I promise we're going to get to the bottom of this and it's going to be ok."

"Kyle didn't do this." He didn't have the heart to tell her that they had found Kyle's prints at the last crime scene or a check he made out to Sharon. Abby had stopped crying and now Catherine was trying not to cry. Spencer sat down next to her and hugged her.

"It's going to be ok."

…...

"_I will do my best to be-_honest and fair,friendly and helpful, considerate and caring,  
>courageous and strong, and responsible for what I say and do, <em>and to<em>respect myself and others,  
>respect authority, use resources wisely, make the world a better place, and be a sister to every Girl Scout."<p>

Emily heard the little girls from down the hall saying the chant. She walked into the room and saw that parents were standing around waiting for the girls to finish up. Emily spotted Jody, her blonde hair was pulled back into a braid and she was wearing her uniform shirt and sash.

"Alright Daisy's that's it for tonight. See you next week," said a troop leader. The girls gathered up their stuff. Jody spotted Emily and her face broke into a grin. _God she looks like her father...only he's not her father...not biologically...but he's her father. I watched him sew those patches on her sash for god's sake. He would do anything for her...would he kill for her?_

"Hi Emily, where's daddy?"

"He needed to run some errands so I'm picking you up."

"Ok." Emily took Jody's hand and they walked out to the car together.

"So how was your day?" asked Emily.

"Ok. I got an A on my spelling test," Jody told her about her day and Emily felt her heart sink even lower. _She's a sweet kid and how the hell am I going to tell her about her father._

"Are we going back to my house? Lilo needs to go outside."

"Actually I need to take you with me...but I'll call him to let him know the puppy needs to go out." Emily got on her phone and called Rossi since he was at the house.

"Rossi."

"Hey you...you need to let Lilo outside so she can use the bathroom."

"I take it Lilo is the beagle puppy who try to go after my shoes."

"Yep," said Emily in a cheerful voice. She hated having to fake this tone, but she didn't want to upset the girl.

"Will do."

"Hi daddy!" called Jody from the back seat.

"He says hi," said Emily.

"How you holding up kiddo?" asked Rossi.

"Everything is ok. See you later." Emily hung up the phone.

"Hey have you ever seen the where I work?"

"No."

"You wanna see the FBI?"

"Ok." Jody sat back in the seat and looked out the window at the DC lights. Emily blinked back her tears. Just because she wasn't in love with Kyle didn't mean she didn't care about him. _This is a shitty way to realize that I'm in a relationship with someone that I just wanna be friends with._

…...

"Will wants to get Henry a puppy?" said JJ picking the puppy and placing it outside.

"They are cute little balls of evil," said Rossi.

"You don't like her cause she peed and you stepped in it."

"These are six hundred dollar shoes," said Rossi. Lilo went to the bathroom and she came up Rossi waging her tail.

"I don't care how cute you are, you are still a ball of fluffy evil." JJ picked the puppy up and they went back inside with the crime scene techs who were searching the house. JJ placed the dog in a laundry room and shut the door, ignoring the small whines and whimpers from the dog.

"They always look so normal," said JJ picking up a photo of Kyle giving Jody a piggy back ride.

"We might, but better safe than sorry right," said Rossi.

"No blood in shower or the washing machine," said a tech.

"Could have tossed the clothes," said JJ.

"But you would still need to shower," counted Rossi.

"That scene was messy," agreed JJ. They kept searching and weren't finding anything to suggest a serial killer was in this house.

"I think we might have reacted too quickly," said JJ.

"Why was this cute little thing locked up all alone and crying?" asked Garcia holding the puppy. Hotch had asked her to come out to the house to look at the computer.

"Because it tried to take a bite at me," said Rossi.

"Oh she's too cute to do that," said Garcia. JJ lead her down the hall to an office. Garcia sat the puppy down and took a seat at the desk. She booted the computer up.

"I knew I should have looked into this guy when Catherine set them up, but I thought: 'Hey nice guy, single dad, teaches drama... the worse thing I thought he could be was closet gay, not closet serial killer," said Garcia.

"I guess this means you'll be doing background checks and all our romantic interest?" asked Rossi.

"Bet your sweet backside I am. Ok...on the surface nothing bad...lesson plans, I-tunes...lots of pop music and show tunes. Can we arrest him just for bad taste in music?"

"Garcia," said JJ.

"Right...sorry. Ok...deleted files...we'll pull everything he trashed...not a lot here...some pics and Oh my god!"

"What?" asked Rossi. Garcia say nothing she she turned the screen towards him and JJ.

"You were right, they always appear normal," said Rossi.

…...

"I didn't kill anyone! I didn't like my ex, but I didn't do that..." said Kyle looking away from the pictures of Sharon's body.

"We found your prints at her apartment and a check you wrote her," countered Hotch.

"She didn't want Jody back, she wanted money. Six thousand was all I had in my savings. I was going to see about getting a cash advance on my cards she to get her some more money. I didn't want her near my daughter."

"Biologically she's not your daughter. You adopted her," said Hotch. Kyle turned red around the ears.

"I have cared about her since I found out Sharon was pregnant. I got up with when she was an infant and needed something. I taught her how to walk, how to ride a bike, I'm the one she comes to when she has a bad dream and I have been her father in all the ways that matter for the past six years and I intend to be that until the day I die. So don't you dare even imply that she's not my child because we don't have DNA in common."

"I get it...you love your daughter. You gave her a home when her own mother didn't even want her. You would do anything for her," said Morgan.

"Yes," said Kyle honestly.

"Even kill to keep her safe." Kyle just looked at Morgan blankly.

"Did I like my ex...no. Was she a terrible person and mother, yes. Am I sorry that she's dead, not really...but I didn't kill Sharon. She just wanted money...once she got it she told me she was heading back to New York."

"So you went to her apartment, gave her money and than what...she start a fight with you, try to hit you again, threaten to take her away even with the money?" asked Hotch.

"I finished my classes, went and rehearsed with my Glee club, went home, fed Jody and took her Girl Scouts, went to Sharon's and gave her the check, left and went over to Catherine's and had dinner with her. She was wasted, but alive when I left. Plus I don't even know the other people you're accusing me of killing or maiming. And this is just ridiculous...I didn't kill anyone. What did you want: DNA, fingerprints, hell give me a rectum exam. I didn't hurt anyone," protested Kyle. Morgan looked at Hotch, they were seriously lacking DNA evidence with these cases and he was having a hard time seeing this guy fitting the profile. Before Morgan could say anything, Emily walked in holding a file and her face stone cold.

"Oh thank god. Em, can you please talk some sense into these guys?" Emily handed Hotch the file and didn't even look at Kyle.

"Garcia went through the home P.C. And didn't find anything to tie him to the last three victims. She found something else though. Pictures of a nude teenaged girl." Kyle's face went white and Emily glared at him. "You sick son of a bitch."

"It's not what you think," protested Kyle. "She was a student from last year and she sent them to me. She was just a dumb kid who had a crush and thought nothing about sex-texting. I deleted the pictures and went to her parents about it. We agreed to keep it quite and not to go to the school about it. She's in college now."

"You really expect me to believe that," spat Emily.

"A fifteen year old girl in Michigan got charged with sending child pornography to her sixteen year old boyfriend while they were sex-texting and the pictures got out. She had to register as a sex offender and it ruined her life. She was just a dumb kid with a crush and it was a mistake."

"Please," Emily turned and slammed out the room. Kyle went even paler.

"I think I want that lawyer now."

…...

"_A local teacher has been arrested as a murder suspect, more at ten," said the male reporter._

_ Idiots, they really think they have a suspect...it's ok...my work is done...for now._


	10. Chapter nine

Chapter nine

Spencer was pouring over the crime scene photos the next morning, he had spent the night here trying to figure out what they were missing and nothing was coming to him. Kyle had alibis for Daniel's murder and the attack on Catherine's mother and so far they seemed to be holding up. Plus there was a serious lack of physical evidence. _Something isn't adding up...we've rushed this._ Spencer dug into his desk drawer and fished out a bottle of headache medicine and took two with his very cold coffee. He had turned his attention back to the files and didn't notice Catherine coming into the bull pen until she slammed down a bag for him.

"What the hell is going on?" Catherine hissed. She was near tears and was shaking. Spencer stood up and took her into the hallway outside the pen.

"Catherine please calm down," pleaded Spencer.

"No I will not calm down! I had to deal with over thirty freaked out kids, their parents and school officials this morning. You said you would tell me what is going on and you're not! They put me on leave until they finish an investigation on Kyle's conduct with the kids. They said they found kiddie porn on his home computer and wanted to know if I had seen him acting inappropriately with the kids. This is crazy...all of it! Kyle would never do that! What the hell is going on?"

"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry." Spencer looked around to make sure they were alone. He wasn't surprised at the media attention this was now receiving since the locals outlets had picked the story up about Kyle's arrest.

"I don't think Kyle had anything to do with the murders...he doesn't fit the profile we had started working on, not to mention he has air tight alibis for the first two attacks, but Garcia did find pornographic images on his home computer and we're holding him on those right now." Catherine looked near tears.

"That's...that's not possible." Spencer wished that it wasn't true, but he saw the pictures with his own two eyes.

"He's says a student sent them to him from last year, but he won't give us her name. He got a lawyer so we can't ask him any more questions."

"Let me talk to him," signed Catherine.

"No."

"Than let me see the picture. I might know who she is."

"Absolute not," signed Spencer. It was bad enough that he was haunted at times by the images he saw. There was no way in hell he was letting his wife see a picture, of what could be a former student like that. Catherine glared at him.

"I just spent the last hour getting yelled at by parents wanting to know how I didn't notice that Kyle was a pervert. I'm in this even if you don't want me in it. So I either talk to Kyle or you show me who she is."

"I can't violate the victim's right to privacy...I don't know...let me talk to Hotch." Spencer left to find Hotch and Catherine sat down at his desk. It was a few minutes before Hotch and Spencer came back. Both men were talking so fast that Catherine couldn't catch what was being said. They would look over at her though and keep talking, leaving her out of the conversation, something that pissed her off even more. _I've been put on leave, my mother is a hospital bed and I'm scared to see her, one of my close friends is accused of murder and than being a pervert. I don't want to be a bitch here, but I'm done being left out of this._ Hotch was clearly against her talking to Kyle and Spencer seemed to be agreeing with him.

"Stop talking about me like I'm not here," spat Catherine standing up.

"I understand that you're concerned about your friend, but I don't think," started Hotch.

"You think he attacked my mother and I want to talk to him about it," said/signed Catherine.

"She might be able to get us the name of the girl in the photo," said/signed Spencer. "Plus...she's not an agent so she can ask him."

"That could compromise the case," said Hotch.

"Anything spouses talk about is considered private and protected in court. What Catherine tells me is between us as a married couple...what I do with the information..." said/signed Spencer. Hotch glared at him, but the younger agent did have a point. They couldn't question Kyle, but Catherine wasn't questioning him. It was a talk between two friends.

"Alright. I want you to watch the interview from the other room with an interpreter so that way his lawyer can't argue with the translation. I'll get one up there," said Hotch and Spencer signed it to her.

"Thank you," signed Catherine. Hotch went back to his office.

"Come on," Spencer took her to the other side of the building and up to ninth floor.

"Once I shut this door it locks, if you want out just push the button on the wall. I'll be in the next room ok," signed Spencer. Catherine nodded and Spencer unlocked the door. Kyle was up and pacing the room. His lawyer left a little bit ago to try and get some sort of bail for him. He looked at Catherine and seemed torn between worry and relief, than he saw Spencer and his expression turned cold. Spencer shut the door and walked into the attached room were Agent Daune was there with a video camera set up and a note book. He nodded his greeting at Spencer and went back to his note taking. Spencer turned his attention back the interview as well.

"Kyle...what the hell?" asked Catherine. Kyle sat down and gestured that she should too.

"I didn't do the things they're accusing me of...I didn't murder anyone and I've never hurt any of my students. My union rep was here to tell me that they school was placing me on leave without pay until further notice...some social worker came in here after that and had the nerve to ask me...to ask me if I...did that to Jody. They told me depending on how the investigation goes, that they could take her away. She's my baby Cat...Sharon's family won't take her and I don't have any family. So even though I've never laid a hand on daughter or student I'm being treated like I'm some sort of monster. My life is over with...no one will believe a word I say...I'm going to lose my daughter, my career, everything..." Kyle just put his head down on the table and started sobbing. Catherine felt her own eyes start to tear up and she reached over and she took his hand.

"It's going to be ok."

…...

"Hi Jody. My name is JJ, I'm a friend of Emily's," said JJ sitting down with Jody. Jody looked up from her coloring book slowly. The young girl seemed worried and confused and JJ didn't blame her, if had been a long night. Emily had brought her here to the BAU and once the pictures had been found on Kyle's computer CPS was called in and they talked to Jody for hours.

It was clear to JJ that she was a daddy's girl and that Kyle had never laid a hand on her. After that they still insisted on doing a physical exam to be sure and Emily had gone with her and than brought her back to the BAU. CPS had wanted to put her in a group foster home, but Emily pulled rank and refused to let them take her. By this point in time all Jody wanted was to go home and be with her father and puppy which she couldn't and Emily had to try to explain that it might be awhile before she could go home. Jody had cried herself to sleep on a sofa in JJ's old office and now she wouldn't eat breakfast. JJ now had the joy of questioning her about the events before they arrested Kyle. The mother in JJ just wanted to hug the little girl and let her know that it was going to be ok, the profiler in her knew this needed to be done.

"Can I go home now?" asked Jody hopeful.

"Not yet honey. I need to ask you some questions." Jody seemed near tears and she looked back down at her book.

"My daddy doesn't want me anymore."

"Oh sweetie why would you say that?" asked JJ.

"A lady came to our house when I was outside with Lilo yesterday. She said I was going to stay with her because I was her baby and my daddy wasn't going to want me anymore because I wasn't his baby...I thought she was lying." Jody started crying and when JJ went to hug she pushed away from her.

"I WANNA GO HOME!" Emily came into the room and went over to Jody. Hotch wouldn't let her question the child, but she would be damned if she sat here and watched her cry.

"Hey...hey...shush." Emily picked the child up and let her sob. "It's ok. Your daddy loves you very much...but right now we need you to stay here with us. Ok...shush." The exhausted child fell asleep in Emily's arms. Emily laid her down on the sofa and covered her up with a blanket.

"Poor kid," said JJ. Emily wiped her own her eyes quickly.

"Bastard...can't believe him," spat Emily. They left the room and went back to the pen.

"You wanna talk about this?" asked JJ.

"There is nothing to talk about it. Even if he isn't a murdered, he's a pervert and I hope he rots in hell. This is a typical case of transference, father turns his compulsion to abuse to someone else unless he was waiting until Jody was older and...it's makes me sick to think that I liked him at all. I just feel terrible for Jody." JJ was going to say something when her phone chimed. It was a text from Garcia, she had been working on Kyle's home PC, school computer, phone and Sharon's computer. She was finally finished tearing them all apart.

"You wanna go visit Garcia?" asked JJ.

"Yeah." Emily asked Anderson to watch Jody and get her in case she woke up. Emily followed JJ down to Garcia's room and was trying to keep it together. Never in her whole life had she been so embarrassed and hurt by someone. Granted they had only been dating a few months and she had even admitted to herself that she wasn't in love with Kyle, but it didn't mean that she hadn't cared about him and viewed him has someone she could be friends with. _At least with Doyle I knew he was a bad person...but Kyle..._

"Hello my ladies. Tell me one of you have coffee for me?" asked Garcia. JJ wordlessly handled over her coffee. "Thank you. Ok...I tore Sharon's laptop apart and it was deja va all over again. She had Kyle's job information, Jody's school info, everything. She also had contact information for a lawyer: Thomas Daling, he specialized in adoptions."

"What about Kyle?" asked Emily.

"His school P.C was squeaky clean, his texts and calls were pretty mundane stuff, it was the home P.C was odd though."

"Odd how?" asked JJ.

"Well I checked his web history and nothing naughty popped up, no chats or kiddie porn or porn of any kind. So I looked at the meta data on the pictures we found and that's where our story gets odd. It was downloaded last year at 6:23 pm and than deleted at 6:24 pm the same night."

"So he opened them and than deleted them a minute later?" asked JJ.

"So I started looking through the e-mails and after much digging I found this e-mail from a Sabina Roslain. The subject was-Rough Draft."

"Mr. Jackson. Attached is my 1st rough draft for the mid term project. I hope you enjoy it. Sabina." read JJ. Emily was starting to feel the first trickle of shame and guilt creep in.

"Can you locate her?" asked Emily.

"Already done. She a student at Georgetown, pre-med," said Garcia.

"Let's go talk to her," said JJ. The two left Garcia's office and JJ noticed Emily's hands were shoved deep in her pockets, she was fighting the urge to pick her nails. "Em?" asked JJ.

"I don't wanna talk about it." _God what if he was telling the truth...oh god._

…...

"Why didn't you tell the school?" asked Catherine after Kyle finished telling her about the girl and her crush on him. She had sent Kyle an e-mail under the guise of it being a term paper she wanted reviewed. He wouldn't tell her who it was. Kyle eyed the mirror and signed something about his lawyer wanting him to keep quite.

"Because it would have messed up her whole life. She was a stupid kid who made a bad choice. Kids are impulsive and don't think about long term results about what they do, you know this. I went to her mother and the girl and told them I would keep quite about this, but she had to stop it."

"So you deleted the photos," signed Catherine.

"Right away. However, it clearly didn't make a damn difference. My life is over...even if I get my job back the parents aren't going to trust me with their children. I'm sorry you got pulled into this shit storm. It's nice to see that all parties are innocent until proven guilty," signed Kyle glaring at the mirror. Catherine had told him she had been put on paid leave until things had been settled. Catherine sighed.

"Kyle, you should just tell them who she is. It's the only way you're going to get out of here."

"Did your husband put you up to this?"

"Actually he didn't want me to come in here. I offered to look at the pictures to see if I knew who she was and he said no...so after some bickering with him and his boss they let me come in here to talk to you." Kyle looked at her and gave her a small smile.

"You don't know the meaning of the word no, do you?" asked Kyle.

"No," joked Catherine. Before she could say anything else the door opened and Morgan and Hotch were standing there.

"You're free to go," said Hotch. Kyle looked at him stunned.

"What?"

"We're sorry for the misunderstanding," said Morgan.

"Misunderstanding," muttered Kyle.

"I'll speak to the school and the teacher's union..." started Hotch and Kyle cut him off.

"Don't! Don't do me anymore favors! I just want my daughter and I want to go home!"

"Of course," said Hotch. "She's on the sixth floor with one of my agents." Kyle picked up his jacket and walked passed Hotch and Morgan. Spencer came into the room and Catherine looked at him confused.

"What is happening now?" she asked.

"Emily and JJ found the girl."

…...

"Sabina Roslain?" asked JJ. A pretty young girl with long black hair turned around from the group she was with.

"Yeah," she asked nervously. Emily and JJ pulled out their badges and the rest of the group slowly disappeared. Sabina came over to them nervously.

"The FBI collects on parking tickets now?"

"Did you send these pictures?" asked Emily showing her one of the less risque photos. Sabina looked horrified.

"Where did you get those?" she hissed.

"I'll take that has a yes," said JJ. The young girl turned red.

"I have a right to know where you got those!" Emily quickly explained what was going on with the case. Sabina's face went white.

"We don't think Kyle had anything to do with the murders, but we found your photos on his computer in the trash," said Emily.

"It was stupid ok...Mr. Jackson was a nice guy and I had the hots for him ok. I sent him those pictures. He told my mother and said he would get rid of them. He didn't want to ruin my chances of getting into college." Emily felt that wave of shame and guilt grow. Kyle had been telling the truth the whole time and instead of giving him the benefit of the doubt she had thrown him under the bus.

"Thank you," said Emily. Sabina quickly walked away and Emily and JJ turned back towards the parking lot.

"Em?" asked JJ noticing her hands where shoved deep into her pockets.

"I threw him to wolves JJ."

"The evidence..." started JJ.

"Was flimsy at best and instead of listening to him, trusting him, or even trying to give him a chance of some sort..." Emily bit her lip and simply got into the car. _ I can't believe what I've done._

…...

Kyle was signing a stack of papers to be released and his hand was shaking.

"Daddy!" cried Jody and she ran over to him.

"Hey...hey peanut!" Kyle picked her up and hugged her tightly. "Oh daddy missed you so much honey." Kyle looked over Jody's shoulder and saw Emily standing there.

"Hey why don't you go wait for daddy by the elevators and he'll be there in a minute." Jody dashed away and Kyle went back to signing his papers.

"Kyle," said Emily softly. He didn't say anything, but his grip got tighter on the pen. "I'm...can we talk...please." His grip on the pen got tighter and his hand was turning white.

"Kyle..."

"Thank you for looking after Jody. I was worried that she was all alone."

"She missed you too."

"I don't want you near Jody anymore...I don't want you near me anymore. I just...what did I do to make you think so badly of me? To not trust me for a second and think that I would do _those_ things...I get that you see horrible things everyday from people, but..." Kyle just shook his head. "Forget it...let's just forget it."

"Kyle I'm sorry," said Emily. He just looked at her stunned.

"Sorry. You're sorry! Sorry doesn't fix any of this! I've lost my job...I don't know if I'll be able to teach again anywhere." He spotted Catherine and Spencer coming into the pen. "Catherine's been put on leave...guilty by association. I've lost my job, Catherine could lose her tenure and I almost lost my daughter too...so sorry really doesn't fix any of this Emily," snapped Kyle. Hotch came into the pen and got between Emily and Kyle.

"I think you should go now."

"Not a problem. Thank you for ruining my life. I hope you both have a lovely day," spat Kyle and he left the pen.

"Emily..." started Hotch.

"Just don't," said Emily and she walked away quickly.

…...

Kyle unlocked the door and Jody ran into the house looking for her puppy.

"Oh daddy I left my backpack with Emily!" said Jody when she found Lilo under the sofa.

"I'll have Cat bring it over later ok." Kyle was taking in the mess that had been left behind by the FBI when they searched his house. _Damn them and damn her._ It had been a long time since Kyle had allowed himself to feel a romantic attachment to anyone since Sharon and he wasn't surprised that it ended with him having his heart ripped out and stepped on. _Who was it that said that you can the measure the damage a man does in dollar signs, but you can measure the damage a woman does in emotional scars. Guys fuck things up...girls are fucked up._

"Oh she had an accident daddy," pouted Jody.

"Why don't you take her outside and I'll clean up in here ok."

"Kay." Jody went to head outside and Kyle called out to her.

"Hey come here a second." Jody came over to him and he pulled her into a huge hug. "I love you very much...you know that right."

"I love you too daddy."

"Go on get out of here," he gave Jody a playful push and she went outside. He made sure she was outside and than he started cleaning up the house. It was unreal to him how much of the mess they had made. Kyle put on some music and started picking up the living room. He was putting books and movies back where they belonged and he didn't notice the person behind him. It was unreal that they let him out after what he had been accused of. The knife went into Kyle's back before he could react.

…...

"The press monkies move fast, Kyle hasn't even been out an hour yet and the press is already running that we let him go," said Rossi.

"It's a mess," agreed JJ. "But this is the sort of thing they eat up: Scandal." Spencer came up to them and sat down.

"How's Catherine holding up?"

"She's worried about her job position, but Hotch and Struass are on the phone with the school board seeing if they can get Catherine and Kyle their job backs. She's on her way over to talk with Kyle and drop off Jody's bag." She was also going to pick Abby up and try to visit her mother again.

"Well if Struass is the mix, Catherine might end up owning the school," said Rossi.

"So if Kyle isn't our Un-sub...this takes us back to square one," said JJ.

"Where's Emily?" asked Spencer.

"She's taking a break," said JJ.

"Why don't we all take one for right now?" suggested Rossi.

"Agreed," said JJ. Rossi and JJ went to go and get some coffee. Spencer went to go find Emily, he had a feeling about where he could find her and he was right. She was in the gym punching the hell out of a bag.

"You ok?" asked Spencer. Emily hit the bag one more time and than she looked over at Spencer.

"I...I didn't...he trusted me and I didn't trust him for one second. The moment things got hard I walked away. I always do. You think I would have learned after Doyle to trust people and not walk away, but I did it anyway and people got hurt." Emily sat down on a bench and Spencer sat next to her.

"The evidence was damning at first."

"You're telling me that if Catherine was accused of something like this you would just walk away from her without a second thought?"

"I've known Catherine for almost twenty five years and she's seen me through some really rough patches. She's only walked away when I finally gave her no choice. You and Kyle don't have that sort of history so it's unfair to compare your relationship to ours."

"I've never given any relationship a chance to be what you and Catherine are. He cared about me and I never really gave him a chance." Emily went to say something else when her phone went off. She picked it up and looked at the ID confused. "It's Kyle. Hello." Spencer could hear sobbing in the background and someone screaming.

"Hello?" asked Emily again.

"Emily," came a small voice.

"Jody?" asked Emily. The child was sobbing again and Emily could hear some muffled speech and groaning.

"Honey what's going on? Are you hurt?" asked Emily getting off the bench. She could hear sirens in the background.

"Just hold on please," said a female voice that sounded muffled.

"Can you come over?" asked Jody.

"Jody I need you tell me what is going on." Jody's sobbing got louder. Spencer got on his phone and was calling Garcia to have her put a trace on Kyle's phone to see where it was.

"Miss we need you to move out of the way," said a male voice.

"We're going to help him," said another male voice.

"Jody?" cried Emily feeling her heart jump into her throat. _Oh god no..._

Notes-Sorry for the delay...I was working on other projects and got sidetracked. Damn scrap-booking is addictive.

I


	11. Chapter ten

Chapter ten

Emily shut the door behind her as the nurse walked in to turn off the machines. She lean against the wall and tried to fight back her own tears. _It's not fair. _She quickly wiped her eyes and walked down the hall to where Jody was sitting with Rossi and he was reading a book to her. Rossi looked up at her and he knew the worst had come to pass. Rossi sighed and looked down at Jody as if to ask _Now what?_ Emily simply shook her head, it was still too much to take in right now. Emily walked over to them and sat down.

"Is daddy sleeping now?" asked Jody.

"Yeah...he's sleeping now." Emily ran a hand through the young girl's hair and tried to not cry again. "How would you feel about coming to stay with me for a couple days?"

"Is daddy going to be ok?" Emily stood up and she picked Jody up.

"Come on...let's go for a walk." Rossi watched the two of them walk towards the exit and shook his own head. He knew Emily was blaming herself for what had happened to Kyle, it wasn't her fault..it was really no one's fault other than the mad man they were trying to catch. A nurse approached Rossi.

"I'm sorry to bother you sir, but we need someone to sign for Mr. Jackson's body and personal effects." She handed him a clip board tentatively. Rossi signed for the effects and had them send the body to the funeral home that handled Carolyn for him.

"Should we call CPS for his daughter?"

"That won't be necessary. She's being taken care of," said Rossi. The nurse nodded and left. Rossi took out his phone and went to call Hotch to let him know what happened. It had been a long day and it clearly had no end in sight.

_A few hours earlier._

"She's still not picking up," muttered Spencer and he kept texting Catherine from the backseat. Emily was sitting in next to him and she wasn't getting any reply on Kyle's phone. Hotch was driving and Rossi was sitting in the passenger seat on the way to Kyle's house. Hotch was on the phone with the detective at the scene trying to find out what is going on.

"We were getting ready to call you guys. We figured it was you guys when we saw the writing on the wall...literally."

"Can you tell me what condition the victim is in?" asked Hotch.

"He's in pretty bad shape. He's on his way to the hospital right now."

"Is his daughter ok?" asked Hotch. Hotch was mentally crossing his fingers, she was only a year younger than Jack and he still thought of Jack as a baby.

"Physically she's fine, not a mark on her...we sent her and her mother to the hospital. Poor lady was freaking out."

"Mother?" asked Hotch.

"The poor Deaf lady who texted 911."

"Ok, we're five minutes from you. What hospital did you send him too?" The detective gave him the name of hospital and hung up with Hotch.

"Catherine and Jody are ok and were sent to the hospital with Kyle." Spencer and Emily gave each other looks and before either one of them could speak, Rossi was already saying what they were thinking.

"It might be best for Reid and Emily to go to the hospital and talk with Catherine and Jody." Hotch looked in the rear view mirror at the two agents. Reid was clearly worried about his wife and while he trusted him to set his feelings aside to work the case, it was unfair to ask him to do that when Catherine might need him. Emily had dug her nails into the palms of her hands and was barely keeping herself in check. He wasn't sure what her relationship was with Kyle, but it was clear she was worried about the little girl.

"Dave and I will handle the crime scene...go make sure they're ok and try to talk them through what happened."

"Ok," said Emily. Spencer was twisting his wedding ring without any thought and his mind was racing at 100 miles an hour and he spoke the first one that was bothering him the most.

"Why Kyle? He adopted Jody...he never abandoned her. Our Un-sub had no reason to attack Kyle."

"If our Un-sub is following the news, he knows that we released Kyle and what we were holding him on other than the murder charge. Our Un-sub is in the business of getting rid of what he feels are bad parents," said Rossi. Emily was shaking her head, but she said nothing. _This was entirely their fault...her fault...she had thought the worst of him and so did the Un-sub and now he was hurt...god how badly was he hurt...was he going to be ok._ They got to the scene and Hotch gave the keys to Emily and for a second she thought Hotch was going to take her hand.

"They're at Springwood Hospital," he said. Hotch turned and followed Rossi towards the house. Emily got in the driver's seat and Spencer got into the passenger seat. The drive to the hospital was silent and only took ten minutes to get there. They went up the front desk nurse and showed their badges.

"We're looking for Kyle Jackson and the two people he came in with. Catherine Reid and Jody Jackson," said Emily. The nurse quickly turned to her computer.

"Mr. Jackson is in surgery right now and the other two are being checked out for shock and were having their clothes collected by CSI. Mr. Jackson is on the sixth floor and Catherine and Jody are up on the fifth floor."

"Thank you," said Spencer. They took an elevator up to the fifth floor and were pointed to a room down the hall. Catherine was sitting on a bed wearing a pair of gray sweats and tee shirt with Jody on her lap and she was wearing a white gown that came down to knees. Jody was playing with Catherine's hair and Catherine was hugging the little girl. Both of them seemed to be in fog of sorts and didn't notice that Emily and Spencer at first. Spencer shut the door and came up to Catherine and took her hand carefully.

"Catherine," he signed. Catherine looked up from Jody and he hated seeing that broken look in her eyes. It was the look that survivors had after seeing and being through the worst, it was something he never wanted to see in her. Emily came over and she bent down to Jody's level.

"You came," whispered Jody and she hugged Emily tightly.

"Of course I did." Emily took Jody off Catherine's lap and sat down in a chair with her.

"I need some air," whispered Catherine.

"I'm going to take Catherine outside," said Spencer to Emily. She nodded and turned her attention to Jody. Spencer took Catherine's hand and they left the room. They got down the hall when Catherine turned to him and hugged him tightly, he felt her tears on his shirt.

"Come on. Let's go outside and talk,"signed Spencer. They went outside and her grip on his hand was so tight it reminded him of when she was in labor with Abby and she wouldn't let go. They sat down on a bench and Catherine wiped her eyes.

"I know this is hard right now, but I need to ask you what happened?"

"It all happened so fast...I..." Catherine had to force herself to take a deep breath.

"You went to Kyle's to take Jody's backpack back after we talked," signed Spencer trying to help Catherine remain calm and stay focused. She nodded in agreement.

"What happened when you got to Kyle's?"

"The front door was open...it wasn't right. I got Jody's bag and I went up to the door...and it looked like paint on the door...red paint." Catherine's hands started to shake and Spencer leaned over and took her hands in his.

"Take your time. You went inside and what did you see?"

"I called out for Kyle and no one came. The house...it smelled off, like pennies. I shut the door and I called out again and nothing. I went into the family room and Jody...she...she was crying and Kyle...he was just laying there...I remember telling Jody to call for help and I texted 911 and tried to stop the bleeding and..." Catherine started crying and she was starting to hyperventilate. Spencer made her put her head down and held her close to calm her down.

"I'm so sorry," whispered Spencer, it was one of the few times in their relationship that he wished she could hear him.

…...

Emily was holding Jody in her lap and was stroking the child's hair. Jody said nothing and was staring at the wall. It was clear to Emily that she was in a state of shock and had been scared out of her mind.

"Jody can tell me what happened when you got home?" Jody shook her head no and simply snuggled closer to Emily. "It's ok."

"I want my daddy," whispered Jody. Emily had to blink back her own tears. It was Tsia all over again, she had gotten Tsia killed by sending her to where Doyle was because she didn't trust Clyde or her team to keep her safe. She hadn't trusted Kyle and now he might die because of it. _What did I do to make you think so badly of me? _He hadn't done anything, she was simply looking for an out and it was handed to her. Jody shivered a little bit and pulled herself closer to Emily.

"You cold?" Jody nodded. _Really they couldn't find her some clothes?_ "Let me call my friend to see if he can bring you something ok. Jody nodded again and Emily pulled her cell out and called Rossi.

"How is it?" asked Rossi.

"Can you bring me some clothes for Jody?"

"I'm sure I can bring you something in a little bit. How is she?"

"We'll talk about that later."

"Ok." She hung up with Rossi and looked down at Jody.

"Can we go see my daddy please?" asked Jody quietly.

"We'll have to go ask the nurse first." Emily took Jody's hand and they started to head up to the sixth floor. The little girl held tightly to her hand and stayed close to her. _God what did you see?_Emily's cell went off and it was Spencer.

"I need to get Catherine home. Any word on Kyle's condition?"

"I was just about to ask one of the nurses. How is she?"

"She had a panic attack, but she said the Un-sub left the door open and that Jody was in the room with Kyle after the attack. Jody might have witnessed the attacked on Kyle."

"I don't think we're going to get anything out of her right now. She's..." Emily looked down at Jody and had to fight the urge to cry. "Take care of Catherine ok." Before Spencer could get anything else out Emily hung up her phone. They got up to the sixth floor and went up to the front desk. Emily showed her badge to the nurse and asked if she could see a doctor about Kyle.

"Mr. Jackson is still in surgery. Dr. Rocke will come and see you when he's ready." Emily thanked the nurse and sat back down with Jody. The little girl crawled into her lap and clung to Emily.

"It's going to be ok," said Emily unsure of who she was trying to reassure.

…...

"Poor dog is hiding under the sofa...she has blood on her. Not sure if it's spatter," said a tech trying to reach under the sofa and get the dog. Hotch was taking in the scene and felt his heart sink into his stomach. _Did his daughter see this? No child should ever have to see this. Thank god Jack never had to see Haley like that, he just has to live with it._

"Emily asked if I could bring Jody some clothes. I'm guessing CSI took her clothes for evidence and she's not talking about what happened. She might be in shock for awhile so I don't know what we're going to be able to get out of her."

"No child should ever have to be witness to this sort of thing," said Hotch. The room was covered in blood spatter and Unworthy was written in blood on the wall.

"You ok?" asked Rossi.

"We had this man in custody, accused him of being a murderer than a child molester and than we send him home with an 'apology' for ruining his life and this monster is waiting for him. I actually implied that he was less of a parent since he adopted Jody." Everything in this home said otherwise, this was man who was clearly devoted to his child much like he was to Jack.

"You were pushing his buttons. Trying to get him to break and give you something. This isn't the first time we've made mistakes Aaron."

"I know that."

"It doesn't make it any better though?" asked Rossi.

"No." Hotch's phone rang and he saw it was Reid calling him. Reid told him that Catherine had been the one to text 911 and had noticed the front door was open, but she really had nothing else for them. He was going to take her home so she could get some rest.

"Are you sure she didn't notice anything else?" asked Hotch.

"Yes I'm sure and I'm not going to press her anymore! She's already been through enough in the past few days and...I can't be on this case anymore. My wife needs me to be her husband, not an agent right now. I'm asking to sit this one out."

"I need you on this Reid. Take the rest of the day and take care of Catherine, but be back in the morning," said Hotch. Reid said nothing else and he hung up with Hotch.

"I take it the young doctor is pulling out the alpha male concerning his wife," said Rossi.

"He's worried about her. She's been under a great deal of stress the past few days. It would be a lot for anyone to handle." They studied the scene and weren't able to find prints or any other physical evidence linking anyone to the scene.

"Got her," said the tech finally getting the puppy out from under the sofa. The tech handled her carefully and collected her trace. "She'll need a bath...poor thing." She put the dog back down and she quickly ran back under the sofa.

"I'm going to stay here and keep looking over things. Take Emily whatever she needs for Jody," said Hotch. Rossi walked down the hall to Jody's room and quickly grabbed some clothes for her. Rossi headed out and saw that Hotch was trying to coax the puppy out from under the sofa. He fished the puppy out and Rossi watched him take the puppy into the kitchen and place it in the sink to wash the blood off her.

…...

Spencer sent Emily a text that he was going to take the SUV so he could drive Catherine home and pick up Abby. Catherine was quite the whole ride to the daycare and she still wouldn't talk to him when they got back to the apartment. Catherine simply went into their bedroom and shut the door. He made sure Abby was taken care of before heading into their bedroom. Spencer found Catherine had changed her clothes and was sitting on their bed with her knees pulled up to her chest. He sat down next to her and laid Abby down between them. Catherine looked down at Abby and toyed with her daughter's hair. It felt like forever before she finally would talk to him.

"Is Kyle going to be ok?" asked Catherine.

"I don't know. Emily sent me a text saying that she would tell me when she heard anything," signed Spencer.

"Should we go back and wait with Emily?"

"I think it's best if we stay here for now."

"I just...I'm worried about him and there is nothing I can do. God poor Jody...she's just a baby and she didn't need to see what I saw. I'm an adult and I'm terrified to close my eyes because I know I'll see him like that. How is she going to handle this?"

"You know how kids are and that they recover from trauma quicker than adults."

"How do you recover from seeing your father stabbed within an inch of his life on the floor of your home? He's my friend and..." Catherine just shook her head, picked up Abby and held her close.

"I know how hard this is for you," signed Spencer. Catherine adjusted the baby so she could rest on her chest.

"It's just not fair," signed Catherine. Abby grabbed a fist full of Catherine's hair and started whining for attention. Catherine gave their daughter a very tired smile and let her play with her hair.

"I know what a good friend Kyle is to you. He came and spoke with me about you after you and your dad were in that car accident." Catherine just shook her head and focused on Abby. Spencer took Catherine's hand and squeezed. Spencer recalled sitting in Catherine's room after her accident, worried about her, if the baby was going to be ok, worried if they were going to be ok. They had talked a little about what had been happening in their relationship after Emily's 'death' and how it had suffered. Catherine had since fallen asleep and it left Spencer alone with the beeping of machinery and his thoughts about how to fix the damage. Kyle came to check on Catherine after hearing about her accident at school.

…...

_Spencer heard the tapping at the door and looked up, it was Kyle, the Drama teacher from Zeller's, the sister school of Columbia's School of the Deaf. He really hadn't had a chance to talk with Kyle that much, he had either been working or trying to figure out what was causing his headaches. But from what Catherine had told him he was a good teacher and she enjoyed working with him._

_ "I'm sorry to bother you. The kids were worried about Catherine and they wanted to come see her, but I figured it was best to see if she was up to visitors first," said Kyle. He pulled up a chair and sat down next to Spencer._

_ "How is she?" asked Kyle._

_ "The doctors think she's going to be ok and they're going to put her on bed rest for two weeks," said Spencer._

_ "Is the baby ok?"asked Kyle, Spencer gave him a look. "She told me after I caught her throwing up during dress rehearsals. I have a five year old daughter, it's easy to spot."_

_ "They said everything looks ok so far, but the bed rest is to make sure she doesn't miscarry." Kyle nodded and studied Spencer._

_ "Are you going to be ok?" _

_ "Um...I hope so. Thank you for asking." Spencer turned his attention back to Catherine and took her hand. _

_ "Listen. I know this really isn't any of my business, but Catherine told me you guys were going through some stuff. When we're not working on school stuff she talks about you."_

_ "What did she tell you?" asked Spencer._

_ "Just how much she cares about you, that you've been her best friend since you guys were kids and that deep down she just misses her best friend. The way she talks about you...I just hope one day to have someone to talk about the way Catherine talks about you. You mean a lot to her."_

_ "She means a lot to me too." Spencer squeezed Catherine's hand, he missed her so much and was so worried that maybe he was going to lose her for good this time. He missed his friend too, above everything in this life she had always been his best friend._

_ "I'll tell the kids that she's going to need a few days before she can have visitors. I'll leave you two alone. Take care of her ok."_

_ "Thank you," said Spencer. Kyle nodded and took his leave. Spencer turn his full attention back to Catherine and kissed her forehead. _

…...

Spencer felt his phone buzz in his pocket and it was Emily. Spencer took the call out in the hallway.

"How is he?" asked Spencer.

"It's not good. Kyle has lost his kidneys are is suffering from internal bleeding in his bowels and..." Emily's voice broke for a second. "They can't stop the bleeding. According to the doctor's they're just making him 'comfortable' for now." Spencer felt his heart sink for everybody involved in this.

"Let me tell Catherine and we'll be there in a little bit...she'll want to talk to Kyle." _She'll want to say goodbye._

"Ok," said Emily. Spencer hung up the phone and went back into the bedroom to where Catherine was playing with Abby. She looked up at Spencer and when she saw the look on his face she knew what had happened to friend and she teared up. Spencer sat down with her and held her while she cried.

…...

Rossi found Emily on the sixth floor with Jody sitting on her lap. Emily's attention was focused fully on Jody, she was stroking the young girl's hair and was humming a song to her. Rossi came up to them and sat down the bag of clothes.

"Hey," said Rossi.

"Hi," said Emily. "Jody, this is my friend Dave. He brought you some clothes. You want me to help you change?" Jody nodded. "Be right back." Rossi nodded and he watched Emily carry the little girl over to the ladies room. The girl was clearly attached to Emily, than again Emily had always been good with children and considering what she had been through she needed a mother figure. They came out the restroom a few minutes later, the child still clinging to Emily. They sat back down and Jody kept looking down at the ground and playing with Emily's hair. It was clear to Rossi that this child had suffered some serious trauma and who knew if they could get her to talk ever about what she had seen.

"We're stilling waiting for the doctor," said Emily. It was clear Emily didn't want to talk in front of Jody. It was another thirty minutes before a doctor came out to talk to them.

"Jody, I need you to stay here with my friend for a minute. I need to talk to the doctor...ok." Jody looked at her nervously for a minute. "It's ok I'll be right over there." Jody nodded and she curled up in the chair. Emily went over to the doctor and explained who she was.

"Mr. Jackson is out of surgery...but, it's not good," said Dr. Rocke. "We were able to stop the external bleeding, but the internal damage is pretty bad. He suffered trauma to the bowels and we can't stop the internal bleeding and his kidneys are ruined from the wounds he suffered . We're making him comfortable for the time being, but there really isn't much we can do for him now. I'm very sorry. He can have visitors, but I'm not sure for how long." Emily felt like her heart had stopped and she wanted to cry. It wasn't fair, he didn't deserve this.

"Where is he?" asked Emily. The doctor pointed her down the hall and went back to check on Kyle. Emily needed a minute before going back to Jody so she called Spencer so he could tell Catherine what was going on. It hurt to say that Kyle wasn't going to make it. _It's my fault...I'm so sorry._ Emily quickly wiped her eyes and went back to Jody and Rossi.

"Hey you want to see your daddy?" asked Emily trying to sound normal. Jody's entire demeanor changed, she smiled at Emily and jumped out of the chair.

"We can now?" asked Jody.

"Yeah. Come on honey." Rossi looked at Emily and he just knew that whatever the doctor had told her had not been good news. He watched them walk down the hallway and into a room. Rossi watched the young girl jump into her father's bed and saw the look in his eyes, it was the look of a man who knew that his time was limited.

…...

"Hi honey," said Kyle softly. Emily looked at him and fought back the urge to cry, he was hooked up to at least four different machines and he looked exhausted. Jody curled up next him and hugged him.

"I was scared," said Jody.

"Makes two of us sweetie." Kyle looked over at Emily and he gave her a very tired smile. "Have you been a good girl for Emily?"

"She's always a good girl," said Emily pulling up a chair and taking his hand. Kyle didn't take his hand away, but his attention was on Jody and she could tell that he was trying to stay calm.

"Hey I need to talk with your daddy. Do you mind going with my friend Dave to get a snack?" asked Emily. Jody looked at Kyle and he nodded.

"It's ok. I'll be here when you get back," said Kyle. Jody got out of the bed and went into the hall to Dave. Emily went and shut the door behind them.

"She's always been my baby. Even when the DNA test came back that she wasn't mine I didn't care...I loved her and she was my daughter." Kyle had to take a deep breath to calm down. "You won't let anyone tell her different will you?"

"Of course not," said Emily sitting back down next to him.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you. My students would call it 'a dick move'. It was a dick move."

"In your defense...I was sort of a bitch. I should have trusted you. You never gave me a reason to not trust you. I just..."

"Is this the part where you say it's me not you and all those other cliché break up lines," said Kyle and Emily gave him a look. "I'm dying. It doesn't mean I don't still have some sense of humor left."

"Only you. Kyle did you see who attacked you?" asked Emily.

"It happened so fast...I got stabbed in the back and...I saw red...red hair...I...I don't...I...I just heard Jody crying and I couldn't stop her."

"A woman?" asked Emily shocked.

"Yes I got my ass kicked by a girl."

"Can you describe her?" Kyle shook his head no.

"Just her hair...I'm sorry." Emily pulled out her cell and called Hotch. They had been profiling this Un-sub as male. _Going to get you...just you wait..._

"Hotchner."

"Our Un-sub is a woman."

"Can you get a description?"

"No. He doesn't remember what she looks like, just that she's a red head."

"Ok. Meet me back at the BAU in a hour..."

"No. I'm staying here," said Emily and before he could say anything else she hung up the phone and turned it off.

"You love him don't you?" asked Kyle. Emily gave him another look. "It was this look he gave me when we were fighting. It was more than a boss being worried about his co-worker. I work in a high school, I see teenage love triangles all the time."

"Kyle...I'm sorry. I shouldn't have..." Kyle just cut her off.

"Does Jody know yet?"

"No. I called Spencer so he could tell Catherine...they should be on the way." Kyle nodded. Before he could say anything else Jody came back into the room with a juice and a bag of cookies. Jody came back into the room with Rossi and she sat down on the bed with her father. Kyle pulled her close and kissed her on the head.

"You want a cookie?" she asked.

"No thanks sweetie." Kyle just smiled at her and Emily watched him get this far away look in his eyes and it was all she could do to not cry. She had seen death before, all kinds of death, horrible death of all sorts of people. This was different though. This was a man who knew it was coming and was facing it.

"Daddy can you sing me a song?" asked Jody. Kyle pulled her close and rested his head on hers. Despite not being related by blood, Emily could see how they did look a little alike and knew how much he loved her.

_Sweet pea/Apple of my eye/Don't know when and I don't know why/You're the only reason I keep on coming home,_ sang Kyle softly as both he and Jody drifted off to sleep. Emily started to pick at her nails.

…...

Spencer called Will and quickly explained what was going on and he agreed to watch Abby for as long as they needed. They dropped Abby off and drove quickly to the hospital. Spencer watched Catherine twist her necklace, but she had stopped crying. This seemed to have driven her beyond tears. Spencer reached over and took Catherine's hand in his has he parked the car.

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"I think I need to do this alone...ok." Spencer kissed the top of her head.

"I'll wait for you in the lobby." Spencer took Catherine's hand has they went inside and walked her to the elevator. Catherine went up to the sixth floor and found Rossi sitting in the waiting room. He spotted Catherine, went over to her and motioned that she should follow him.

"Thank you," signed Catherine and she went into Kyle's room. Emily was sitting there watching Kyle and Jody sleep.

"Hey," signed Emily. Catherine nodded and she sat down next to her.

"Spencer told me...do you know...how long. How long he has?" asked Catherine.

"A few hours maybe," signed Emily. Catherine nodded and quickly fought back her tears.

"I don't know how I'm suppose to work with our students now." Catherine honestly had no idea how she was supposed to go back and work with her students and Kyle's students. They were a team, they had brought back a program that was on it's last leg and had supported each other no matter what crap had been thrown at them. They were friends, how could she go back and not think of Kyle? She had watched Spencer and the rest of the BAU struggle after Emily's death. This was different though, she had to face a bunch of teenagers and be the strong one for them.

Kyle stirred and he noticed Catherine was sitting with Emily. He adjusted himself in the bed, trying to get comfortable and not wake Jody.

"Hey Buttercup," signed Kyle.

"Hey Wesley," signed Catherine. Other than Spencer, Kyle was the only guy Catherine knew that had actually read the book The Princess Bride and could quote it.

"You mind giving us a minute?" asked Kyle. Emily nodded and she went to get some coffee. Kyle adjusted himself and looked at Catherine.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to say right now," signed Catherine.

"Don't let the kids quit. I know it's not going to be easy, but don't let them quit...and don't you quit either. They're going to need you," signed Kyle. Catherine just shook her head. "Promise me you won't quit."

"Anything else?" asked Catherine looking at Jody. Kyle kissed the forehead of the sleeping child.

"I'm hoping that..." Kyle groaned and took a hit of the pain killer he was attached too and shook his head. "It's ok...Jody didn't get hurt and she's going to be ok. Thank you for being such a good friend and for just being you." Catherine got up and hugged him carefully.

"Good bye," she signed.

"Good bye," signed Kyle and he drifted back off to sleep. Emily came back into the room just as Catherine was leaving.

"Take care of them," signed Catherine.

"I will," signed Emily. Catherine got onto the elevator and when she got to the main floor Spencer was there waiting for her. He simply took her hand and pulled her into a hug. Catherine hugged him tightly and didn't want to let go of him.

"Do you want to go home?" asked Spencer pulling away from her slowly.

"I need to see my mom," signed Catherine.

"Ok," signed Spencer.

…...

Jody woke up and Emily got her something to eat and Kyle turned on the TV for her and they watched a cartoon together. Emily noticed that Kyle was fighting the urge to take his pain killers. He was starting to look even more tired and run down.

"You ok daddy?" asked Jody.

"I'm just very tired baby. I think I'm going to take another nap ok." Kyle looked at Emily and he was giving her this look that he wanted to say something, but not in front of Jody.

"Jody I need to talk to your daddy alone for a minute. You mind seeing my friend Dave again?" Rossi had been sitting out in the hall the entire time watching out for them making sure that it was only hospital staff getting in and no reporters . Jody gave her father a kiss on the cheek and than went into the hall to see Rossi. Emily watched him take her back towards the waiting room and she shut the door.

"Do you want me to get the doctor?" asked Emily. Kyle shook his head.

"Not much he can do for me now...I..." Kyle took a deep breath. "Can you just make sure that wherever Jody ends up that she's ok?" asked Kyle.

"Kyle, I'm not going to let her end up with strangers," said Emily.

"My parents are dead and Sharon's family won't take her...I was going to ask Catherine...she knows Jody...but I didn't...just couldn't focus."

"I can take her," said Emily and Kyle gave her a look that Emily couldn't read.

"Don't! Don't take her out of some sense of pity or duty."

"It's not pity or duty. I know that we didn't date that long, but I consider you a friend and I care a great deal about Jody. I know how much you love her and I promise you that she'll be safe." Kyle closed his eyes and wouldn't look at her. "Kyle, I have faked my death twice to keep people safe. I won't let anyone hurt her no matter what." Kyle opened his eyes and looked at her.

"You won't let her forget me." Emily took his hand. He was looking paler and Emily noticed it was getting harder for him to breath and keep his eyes open.

"I promise that no matter what happens I won't let her forget what a wonderful man her father was and how much he loved her." Kyle nodded.

"Thank you." He closed his eyes again and his breathing started get more labored and Emily buzzed for a nurse. She and another doctor came in just has Kyle's heart rate started to drop.

"It's best if you leave now," said the nurse. The heart monitor started beeping has Kyle flat lined. Emily walked out of the room blindly as another nurse came in to turn off the machines. _I have to Jody...I have to tell her that he's gone and someday she might blame me for this, but for now I need to be there for her._ Emily fought back her own tears and went towards the lobby. She saw Rossi was reading a book to her that he must have picked up from the gift shop downstairs. Jody looked up at her.

"Is daddy sleeping now?" asked Jody.

"Yeah...he's sleeping now." Emily ran a hand through the young girl's hair and tried to not cry again. "How would you feel about coming to stay with me for a couple days?"

"Is daddy going to be ok?" Emily stood up and she picked Jody up.

"Come on...let's go for a walk." _I'm so sorry._

…...

Spencer watched has Catherine took a seat in her mother's room and took her hand carefully from the doorway. Catherine told him she just wanted to stop in and check just to make sure she was ok.

"We were starting to wonder if she was going to come back," said a nurse checking the chart.

"It wasn't easy for her to come back," said Spencer.

"Well it's wasn't easy for that woman to be attacked and be here alone."

"That woman walked out on her when she was an infant and hasn't been in her life since she was child so the fact that she's here at all is hard on her." The nurse was wise enough to be quiet and do her check up quickly. Catherine looked over the chart quickly, it appeared that she was going to be ok. She had been stabbed in the gut and in the arm, but the beating had been bad and it would take her time to recover from the trauma. Spencer came into the room and placed his hand on Catherine's shoulder and squeezed it.

"I want to go home," signed Catherine. Spencer took her hand and they left. Megan waited until she heard the footsteps leave to open her eyes. For a brief second she had her daughter back and really what more could she ask for.

Notes-Sorry for the delay...damn writer's block and damn yard work. Seriously I re-wrote the start of this chapter like three times before settling on the flashback type telling.

Anyhoo-For those of you who have read and go back and re-read The World is Silent, you might notice that three chapters have been edited for 'adult content' I heard through the LJ rumor mill that fics with adult content were being deleted and the writers having accounts frozen and well I put a lot time into that and don't want it deleted. So I figured it was easier to go back, delete a few paragraphs and repost the chapter and it really doesn't change the tone of the story. I got mixed reviews about having the adult content anyway so for those who liked the 'content' I might sign up at adult so I can have un-edited stories. Thank you for all the support and patience


	12. Chapter eleven

Chapter eleven

Spencer sat on the edge of the bed watching Catherine sleep. He was normally against the use of drugs, but considering she hadn't really slept in days he didn't feel that horrible slipping her a small Advil PM in her tea so that she would sleep. Spencer watched her twitch and whine in her sleep and he hated that helpless feeling. He reached over and brushed her hair back, a futile attempt of trying to comfort her. This was something he never wanted her to go through and he was struggling to understand what was going on and why this was happening. Rossi had called a little while ago to let him know that Kyle had passed and that Emily had taken Jody home.

"How's Catherine?" asked Rossi.

"She's resting," said Spencer watching her drift deeper into sleep.

"Just focus on her right now. See you in the morning," said Rossi. Spencer hung up the phone and went back to watching Catherine sleep. He knew how Catherine felt, it was how he felt when Emily 'died'. She had just lost one of her closest friends and there was nothing she could do to stop this. Spencer was about to call Will to see how Abby was doing when he heard someone knocking at the door and saw the doorbell light come on in their room. Spencer was tempted to ignore it, but the visitor kept knocking. Spencer got up to get the door and looked through the peephole to see Savannah standing there looking pale and flustered. Spencer couldn't turn her away and she clearly had every intention of staying there until someone came to the door. _Did she hear about Kyle? _When he opened the door, Savannah was clenching her fists and walked inside.

"Are you alright?" asked Spencer.

"Why didn't you tell me that you knew my dad?" asked Savannah barely keeping her voice steady.

"I didn't know he was your dad," admitted Spencer truthfully. She reached into her backpack and pulled out some of the letters Daniel had written her.

"He wrote about how sorry he was that he left and he was sorry about how my mom is...and he wrote about you and how despite all the mean things he did...that he was glad that you were looking out for me. Why?"

"Why what?" asked Spencer truly confused about what was going on. Savannah seemed to be getting paler by the second.

"Why are you and Mrs. Reid so damn nice to me even after how mean my parents were to you? You knew who they were when this case started and you still offered to help me and I want to know why?"

"Savannah...I offered to help you because I care about what happens to you. It didn't matter to me. I knew you before I knew who your parents were and you are nothing like them." The young girl just shook her head.

"I don't understand why?" She slumped to the floor and had gone even paler. Spencer got on the floor next to her, she was having trouble breathing and her skin was clammy. She was having some sort of panic attack or worse. _She's seven weeks pregnant...could she be having a miscarriage? _

"Savannah can you hear me?" She nodded, but was still struggling to breath. Spencer quickly got the girl to her feet and helped her to the SUV that he had driven Catherine home in. He would text Catherine as soon as he got Savannah help. _Please be ok._

…...

"Why do I feel like we're just going in a circle?" asked JJ re-reading Sharon's file of information that she had on Kyle and Jody.

"And going nowhere fast," said Morgan.

"Our killer is devolving and is starting to lash out at random. She's now killing anyone she assumes is a bad parent." Rossi had called them about an hour ago to let them know that Kyle had passed, what he had told Emily about the Un-sub and that Emily had taken Jody home with her. Garcia had gotten Hotch on the phone briefly and he told her that he was going to take some things over to Emily for Jody and that he hoped to be back soon. Spencer had called JJ to let her know that he was going to be back tomorrow morning after he made sure Catherine was ok. They were rapidly losing team members, but they knew why and it only made them more determined to catch who was behind this.

"Ok...I'm just spit balling here, but Sharon is the major outlier here," said Garcia. "She was not part of any AA group and clearly not staying on the straight and narrow like our other victims so she wouldn't have crossed paths with them at an AA or another support group. So how did our Un-sub meet her?"

"She had a lawyer trying to get her parental rights back," said JJ.

"But our other victims didn't have a lawyer trying to help them," said Morgan. Their bank statements gave no indication that they were giving anyone money. Sharon was actually behind on her payments to her lawyer.

"Maybe he was doing it for free for those trying to stay clean," said JJ. Garcia quickly pulled the records for Sharon's lawyer, Lawarance Hoslter and found that he had no record. They called his office and found he was out of town according to his other partner and would be back in town tomorrow morning. It was the only solid lead they had so far.

"So what do we do now?" asked Garcia.

"We wait," said Morgan.

"This sucks...that poor little girl," said JJ thinking about how scared she was and with no family.

"She's with Em and you know how protective she is about kids," said Morgan.

"It still sucks to lose both your parents and be left with strangers," said Garcia picking up her files and heading back down to her office.

"It sucks to lose any parent," said Morgan. Even after his father passed he still had his mother, this little girl had no one other than Emily.

"Ok so let's think about this. Our Un-sub is a female. She's probably in her in late 20's to mid 30's," suggested JJ.

"She's physically fit. She was able to blitz attack all her victims and she's beaten all her female victims."

"Maybe they're surrogates for someone...but her first victim was a male. Someone our Un-sub knew?"

"Daniel was a big guy and our girl got the drop on him. The stab wounds on Daniel suggest that the first stab wounds were to the front and than to the back. The rest of the victims had stab wounds to the back. She wanted him to see it coming," said Morgan.

"So was he her stessor or just her warm up act?" asked JJ.

…...

Sergio jumped on the bed and curled up next to Jody. Emily felt tears coming and she pushed them back again. Emily had waited until they were in the apartment before telling her the truth about her father. Emily had seen hundreds of family members lose it when they found out what had happened to their family members, but this physically hurt her to watch. Jody had screamed, called her a liar, begged to go back and be with her daddy that she didn't want him to be alone.

"Honey...it's going to be ok," said Emily trying to calm Jody down.

"I want my daddy and I want to go home!" screamed Jody pushing herself away from Emily. Emily wiped her own eyes before speaking again.

"Jody...I am so sorry about your daddy and you need to stay here with me." Jody sank to the floor and couldn't stop crying. Emily sat down next to Jody, stroked her hair and promised her that everything was going to be ok.

"I don't wanna stay with you...I wanna go home," muttered Jody. Emily felt her own tears threaten her and soon the child cried herself to sleep. Emily picked her up and carried her into the bedroom to sleep. Emily sat down on the sofa and she found she couldn't cry at this moment. She just hated herself right now. This was the second time she had taken a child away from their parent, only this time she had ruined the child's life and there was no way to make it better. Now she had promised a dead man that she would take care of his daughter and she had no idea how to take care of this child. Emily went to make herself a cup of tea when the doorbell rang.

Emily looked out the peep hole and saw it was Hotch carrying a suitcase and pet carrier. Emily slowly unlocked the door and let Hotch in.

"How is she?" asked Hotch.

"She's asleep." Hotch sat the suitcase and carrier down. Emily heard Lilo whimper in her carrier.

"Have you contacted CPS yet?" asked Hotch.

"No...I just...right now the last thing she needs is a bunch of strangers asking her questions and placing her in a group home with even more strangers," said Emily. She let the dog out of it's carrier and she ran right under the sofa and hid. _Poor thing...what did you see? _

"I just want to make sure that...that everything is ok." Emily scoffed.

"Nothing is going to be ok Aaron! In the next room is a child that just lost the only person who ever really cared about her and he asked me to look after her and I said yes. And I don't know if I can give her the home she needs, but I can't send her away. Kyle was a good person who was killed because of us. We accused him of doing god awful things and than we just sent him on his way right into the hands of a deranged serial killer. Do you have any idea how lucky we are that the Un-sub didn't kill Jody or physically hurt her? I have no idea what she saw and I won't make her relive that moment if I can help it. Even her dog is traumatized Aaron. So no nothing is going to be ok!" snapped Emily.

"I know how hard this is going to be. When Haley died...all Jack wanted to do was watch videos of him and Haley together. To see her...to see how happy she was being with him and knowing that I was part of the reason she was no longer able to be with him hurt. Even now it still hurts seeing how much Jack looks like Haley and that she's missing out on what should be the best time of her life with her son. I know what it's like to have doubts about being able to care for someone who needs you all the time, but I know you can do this Emily." Emily sat down on the sofa and Lilo poke her head out and she started nosing Emily's leg. Emily picked her up and started petting her.

"I wasn't in love with him, but I did care a great deal about him...he made me smile and I actually felt like I could be normal with him. That I could leave this part of my life behind for just a second and be normal." Hotch sat down next to her and took her hand.

"I'm sorry," said Hotch. Emily nodded and the tears that she had been holding back finally broke through and she buried her head in her hands and started crying. Hotch sat there with her while she cried. He didn't know what to say. He cared about Emily a great deal, but after Foytt's attack on him, Haley's death and becoming Jack's only parent he found the idea of trying to be in a somewhat serious relationship overwhelming. A relationship with his subordinate seemed to be the worst thing he could get involved with at the time. When his life was finally starting to settle down, as settled as it could be in this line of work, Emily was taken away by Doyle and he had to pretend that she was gone. _We didn't know if she could ever come home...we all had to move on even those of us who knew she was ok._

"Emily," said a small voice. She and Hotch looked up and saw Jody was standing. Emily quickly wiped her eyes and went over to Jody. Jody reached up and hugged her. "I can stay here?"

"Of course you can...for as long as you want ok." Jody nodded and Emily hugged her back hard. Hotch slipped out of the apartment unnoticed.

…...

Savannah was quickly seen by a doctor once they got to the ER. Spencer told the doctor that she was about seven to eight weeks pregnant and appeared to be either having a panic attack or a possible miscarriage.

"Is your daughter allergic to anything?" asked the nurse taking Savannah's vitals.

"She's a student of my wife," said Spencer, he didn't want the staff getting the wrong idea about their relationship. The nurse still gave him a look, but said nothing and spoke to Savannah.

"Savannah sweetheart...can you hear me? My name is Dana." Another nurse was going though Savannah's bag and pulled out her phone.

"I'll contact her next of kin." Before Spencer could say anything the nurse was out the door. Savannah's eyes went wide for a second, but said nothing. She clearly hadn't told her mother about being pregnant. This poor child was just piling on stress and secrets.

"We're going to need you to step outside for a minute," said Dana.

"Please don't leave me," whined Savannah.

"I'll be right outside the door," said Spencer and he quickly stepped out of the room so the doctor and the nurse could do their job.

"Yes...yes Mrs. Lisbon. Your daughter Savannah is here at St. Johns...hello...hello. She hung up on me," said the nurse looking at the cell phone confused. Spencer sighed, he had heard from Catherine about how distant Savannah's mother was with her, but this was just beyond even him. The nurse went to try call someone else on Savannah's phone. The doctor came back out and introduced himself this time as Dr. Penni.

"She's going to be ok with some rest. Her blood pressure is a little to high for my liking and she's a little dehydrated, but she's young and she should be ok. We would like to keep her here overnight for observation and make sure she's not going to miscarry."

"Thank you," said Spencer. The doctor left to give the nurse her orders about Savannah and Spencer went back into Savannah's room. She was looking off into space.

"Did they call my mom?" Spencer pulled up a chair next to her. He didn't know how to tell her what had happened. "She's going to be so mad at me when she finds out why I'm here."

"I would like to think that she would be worried about you," said Spencer and Savannah let out a bitter laugh.

"She barely talks me when I'm home, other to ride me about school and even than she really doesn't care has long as I don't fail. It's...we've...something has always been off between us even when I was little you know. It's like she was expecting something else and she got me instead."

"I know what that's like," said Spencer recalling how his early relationship with his father was like.

"I started reading those letters you gave me from my dad and I almost felt sorry for him. He didn't have anything after high school other than my mom and football. Than it was just my mom and than he didn't have anything."

"He had you," said Spencer. Savannah shook her head.

"He wrote about how he was proud of me and that he missed me, but than why...why were they so unhappy? I've never seen two people so unhappy together." Savannah sighed. "I mean even when they were in high school they were unhappy people...why else would they be so mean especially to you. You're like one of the nicest people I know and yet...did my parents really tie you up naked on a football field?" _Why in the world would he tell her that?_

"It happened a long time ago." Savannah just glared down at the blanket.

"I'm so sorry." Spencer reached over and took her hand.

"You don't have to apologize to me, it wasn't your fault." Before anything else could be said a nurse came in, her name tag read: Luci and started hooking up a saline drip for her.

"We need to get some fluids in you ok honey." The nurse was quick about it and gave Savannah a little smile. "Dr. Penni wants to perform an ultrasound later on just to make sure everything is ok with your little one. Get some rest now." Luci left the room and Savannah rolled her eyes.

"History repeat itself," muttered Savannah. "My mother was knocked up too when she was eighteen and look what it got her."

"I think she got an amazing and brilliant young woman for a daughter and even if she's not proud of you than I am and so is Catherine. Trust me when I say I have seen very good people come from terrible people and they go on to do some remarkable things." Before he could say anything else, his phone started to chime. It was a text from Catherine.

_Where are you?_ Spencer quickly sent her a text where he was and what was going on. He had barely put his phone away when Catherine replied back that she would make sure Abby was going to be ok with Will for a little longer and than she would be on her way. Spencer hung up on his end and noticed that Savannah seemed to dozing off, he had a feeling that she hadn't been sleeping either.

"Catherine is on her way to make sure your ok." Savannah gave him a smile and it reminded him of her mother, but different. It was one that was genuine and full of kindness.

"Thank you." She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.


	13. Chapter twelve

Chapter twelve

Spencer shifted in his seat and took another sip of his very cold coffee and looked over at Savannah sleeping in her hospital bed. They had been here for about an hour, Catherine had sent him another text that she was just now leaving Will's after spending some time with Abby and making sure that Will be alright handling her for a few more hours. Spencer was about to send her a return text when he heard someone snapping at a nurse in the hallway.

"Where is she and what is going on?" snapped a female voice. Spencer remembered that voice from when he was younger, it was the voice that made fun of him and had mocked without mercy.

"I'll get Dr. Penni for you in just a moment," said a nurse. Spencer felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. He hadn't seen Alexa in over eighteen years and he wasn't looking forward to it, but he wasn't about to let her bully her daughter the way she had bulled him. He didn't hear anything for several minutes and than he heard Dr. Penni introduce himself.

"What the hell is going on with her!" snapped Alexa.

"Alexa calm down," said another voice and Spencer recalled that one too. The voice of a person coming back to help him in the middle of the night. _Harper Hillman._

"Your daughter had a dangerous spike in her blood pressure and was suffering from dehydration. We're going to keep her overnight just to make sure that she and the fetus will be ok."

"What," hissed Alexa.

"There must be some sort of mistake. We're looking for Savannah Conlley," said Harper.

"I know this is going to be a shock for you, but the pregnancy is what caused the spike in her blood pressure. We're not going to terminate the pregnancy unless we have too, but she does need some rest right now and..."

"Where is she?" asked Alexa barely keeping her voice in check.

"Right here," said Dr. Penni and he opened the door. Alexa walked in with Harper right behind her. On first glance Alexa look just the same has she did in high school, however the profiler in him saw signs of a bitter person. Her eyes were just cold and small wrinkles were around her eyes, her face showed signs of a hardness that shouldn't be there and her hands were clenched at her sides. Harper on her other hand had not aged well, she looked tired and run down, but her eyes showed signs of concern for Savannah. Harper locked eyes with him and she seemed to be confused. The wheels in her head were turning and she was clearly trying to place him. Alexa looked at him coldly and she clearly didn't recognize him, but she was pissed.

"Who the hell are you?" snapped Alexa and Savannah woke up.

"I'm a teacher of Savannah's," he said. It wasn't that much of stretch. Before Spencer could add anything else Alexa turned her attention back to Savannah.

"What the hell is going on Savannah!" The young girl sat up in the bed and folded her hands in her lap.

"I'm pregnant," she said calmly. Alexa's hands balled up tighter and she was shaking.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" spat Alexa. "Do you realize what you've done? You have completely pissed your life away. Once you have..._that _and marry that boy who got you into this mess and you won't be able to go to school or do anything else." Savannah bit her lip hard.

"I'm not going to marry Saul right now, but I am going to school in the fall."

"Well than what the hell are you planning on doing than? An abortion? Because I'm not going to take care of it and I want to know how you plan on taking care of it in a dorm?"

"I'm not having an abortion and I never planned on you taking care of it."

"Lexi...calm down," said Harper looking at her friend stunned.

"I can't believe you could be so stupid," snapped Alexa.

"Must run in the family," said Savannah glaring at her mother. Alexa moved forward and was raising her hand up to slap Savannah when Spencer grabbed her wrist and she glared at him.

"Don't you dare lay a hand on her," he said. Alexa looked at him like she was seeing him for the first time, but she still didn't recognize him. Harper clearly did, but she said nothing.

"Why are you so angry?" asked Savannah. "I made a mistake. I'm sorry...can't you just...this one time not be angry about something." Alexa yanked her hand out of Spencer's grip and turned back to her daughter.

"Young lady you have no idea what you have done and how badly you have ruined your life! You've made your bed and now you lie in it! Come home tomorrow, get your stuff and get out. Don't you think for a second that I'm going to bail you out of the this mess."

"Mom," said Savannah trying not to cry. Before she could get anything else out, Alexa turned quickly and walked out of the room. Harper gave Savannah a quick hug.

"It's going to be ok. I'll try to talk to her." Harper left the room too giving Spencer a pleading look. Savannah was crying and the doctor came back in and gave Savannah something to calm down.

"Just take deep breath ok sweetie," said Dr. Penni. Savannah couldn't stop crying though.

"I'll be right back ok. Just calm down." Spencer turned and walked out the room. Alexa was almost out the door and Harper was trying to talk to her.

"You don't want to throw her out Lexi...think this through."

"No! She wants to be an idiot than she can do it on her own!"

"She's a child who made a mistake and needs her parent," called out Spencer. Alexa turned around and glared at him.

"It is none of your damn business."

"I'm making it my business. That's your daughter and she needs you right now and you're just walking away from her. How can you do that to her?"

"I never wanted her...her son of bitch father talked me into keeping her and than he just walked away and I got stuck with her." Harper looked at her stunned and Spencer just shook his head.

"You are an even sadder person than I thought you would be," said Spencer. Alexa studied him like she was seeing him for the first time.

"Do I know you?" she asked.

"We knew each other a very long time ago...I actually thought I was in love with you once upon a time. I thought you were the most beautiful girl in the world and now I just feel sorry for you," said Spencer.

"Who are you?" asked Alexa confused.

"I'm the person your ex-husband asked to look after your daughter and I'm going to do just that since you can't seem to do so. I just don't understand how you can't see what a wonderful person she is?" Before Alexa could say anything else, Spencer turned and walked back down the hall to Savannah's room. She seemed pale and was visible shaken and Spencer sat back down with her.

"What did she say?" asked Savannah.

"Nothing," said Spencer. Savannah just shook her head.

"My dad wrote that they tricked you into meeting my mom because you had a crush on her. You liked my mom?"

"She was pretty and I was a twelve year old boy with a crush. I had to learn the hard way that just because a girl is pretty doesn't mean that she is worth it."

"Mrs. Reid is pretty," countered Savannah.

"But she was worth it, she was pretty inside and out. Just like you are." Savannah rolled her eyes and sighed. There was a knock on the door, Spencer looked up and saw Catherine was there.

"Hey," she signed and she came into the room. She quickly gave Savannah a hug.

"Are you ok?" asked Catherine.

"I'm going to be eighteen next week, I'm pregnant and I'm homeless. Other than that everything is great," said/signed Savannah. Catherine looked over at Spencer for more answers.

"Give us a minute ok?" said Spencer and he motioned to Catherine that they needed to go out into the hall. They went into the hall and Spencer quickly explained what had happened and how Alexa had just thrown Savannah out and Catherine was stunned.

"She just threw her out. God...I'll go with her tomorrow morning after I take Abby to day care to get her things."

"We're going to need to move some stuff out of that junk room so she'll have somewhere to sleep if she wants to stay with us," signed Spencer.

"Have you told her about Kyle yet?" asked Catherine.

"No...she's really been through a lot today and I don't know how to tell her. She didn't ask about the case and his arrest and release were on the news, she seemed more focused about what her dad had written her and my relationship to her parents."

"Maybe I should tell her. I don't want her to hear about this on the news or have another student tell her. I'll also talk to her about staying with us. Do you think she's going to be ok?"

"She will be, it's just going to take some time." Spencer shook his head. "I never thought I could feel sorry Alexa. I don't think she even realizes what she's lost just now."

"I'll stay with her. Why don't you pick up Abby, go home and try to get some rest. You need to go back in tomorrow."

"Catherine, I don't know if I can figure this one out. I'm too attached to the people affected by this case to see it clearly."

"If there is anyone who can figure it out it's you. I can't imagine how hard this is for you, but I know that you can do this." Catherine hugged him tightly and went back into Savannah's room. Spencer went back in and said goodbye to Savannah and that he would see her tomorrow.

"Thank you Dr. Reid," said Savannah. Spencer turned and headed out of the hospital. Spencer lucked out and missed rush hour traffic on his way to Will and JJ's place. Will was outside with Henry and Abby. Abby was sitting in Henry's old walker and was happily trying to eat on of the toys attached to the walker. Henry was sitting next to Abby and was trying to get her to play with something else and Will was off to the side watching the children play. Spencer pulled up and parked the car. Henry saw him first and ran up to Spencer.

"Uncle Spence! Play with us?" asked Henry. Spencer picked up Henry and hugged him.

"Oh next time ok. I have to take Abby home now."

"Kay," said Henry and Spencer put him down. Abby saw her father and started to sign 'up.' _That's my girl._ Spencer picked her up and she put her head down on his vest and sighed happily.

"How is everything with the girl?" asked Will.

"She might be staying with us for awhile," said Spencer adjusting Abby.

"I will never understand parents who forget what's it's like to be a kid. At least she'll be in good hands now. Let me know if you guys need anything else."

"Thanks Will." Will got Abby's diaper bag and her car seat for him. Spencer got her into the car and started the drive home. Abby sat behind him and he could see in the mirror that she was moving her hands and was babbling to herself. Some of her hand motions looked like she was trying to sign. _It looks like up and more...she does catch on fast._ He parked the car and got Abby out before she started to fuss. She looked up at him from her car seat and was still signing and babbling to herself.

"Yes honey I know," said/signed Spencer. They got into the apartment and he took her out of the car seat and took her into the kitchen with him so he could make her a bottle. Abby rested her head on his shoulder and she played with his vest.

"Did you miss me or something?" Abby looked up at him with a small smile and her bright eyes reminded him of her mother. "I missed you too." The timer went off for the bottle and he sat down to feed her. Abby's eyes were locked on his and he kissed her forehead. She was almost five months old now and he was amazed at how fascinating she was to him. How she was already adapting to not being able to hear them. Her eyes always locked on them when they were talking and she always seemed engaged in watching them talk or sign to her and even now she was already trying to copy what they were signing to her and she always trying to babble at them. Abby finished her bottle and Spencer started to burp her.

"You have no idea how much I love you." Abby simply rubbed her face into his shirt and smiled at him. He sat her back down in her walker and started playing with her. _You have your mother's laugh._

"You also have no idea how much you mean to me. I promise that no matter what happens or how badly you think you have messed up that I will love you," signed/said Spencer. Abby gave him this look and handed him one of her toys. "Thank you honey," said/signed Spencer. She tried to copy him and he couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of pride in her. _For you...your one of the many reason I keep doing this job._

…...

Catherine sat down with Savannah after Spencer left and tried to organize her thoughts before speaking.

"Mrs. Reid are you alright?" asked Savannah. Catherine just shook her head.

"I should be asking you that. You know you were wrong about being homeless. I told you earlier on that if you needed somewhere to stay that you were more than welcome to stay with us." Savannah's eyes got wide and she shook her head.

"I can't impose on you and Dr. Reid like that."

"It would more of an imposition for us to not know where you are and if you're ok. We have an extra room, it's not much but it's better than nothing right." Savannah just shook her head.

"I don't know what to say. My own mother doesn't even want to help me and yet the guy she tormented and his wife are helping me out. I don't know what to say."

"You can say yes. We can go pick up your things in the morning and have you settled in by tomorrow night." Savannah just shook her head and fiddled with her hospital bracelet.

"I will never understand how I got so lucky to meet you," signed Savannah. Catherine shook her head, Savannah reminded her of what she had been like when she was younger, quite and always unsure of what she supposed to do. Catherine knew once you got out of the shell and out of your own way basically nothing could hold you back. _She just needed a push in the right direction._

"Let's just chalk it up to good timing," signed Catherine. Savannah just shook her head and settled into get some rest.

"I forgot to ask Dr. Reid about Mr. Jackson. They're was a rumor about him getting released. We all knew Mr. Jackson couldn't have done those things." Catherine twisted her wedding ring nervously and Savannah knew her teacher and felt her heart start to sink.

"Is Mr. Jackson ok? They said on the news he got out. Are they not giving him his job back?"

"Sweetie...this isn't going to be easy. Mr. Jackson was attacked in his home after he was released and it was really bad."

"How bad?" asked Savannah her heart sinking even further.

"He didn't make it." Catherine fought back her tears and Savannah just sat there stunned, shocked beyond crying.

"Do they know who?" asked Savannah.

"They think it was the same people who killed your dad and who attacked my mother."

"Why are they doing this?"

"I really don't know, but I'm sure that Spencer and the others are going to figure it out before anyone else gets hurt. You need to get some rest."

"I don't know how I'm supposed to sleep after this," signed Savannah. A nurse poked her head in with a doctor wheeling an ultrasound machine. Catherine watched the doctor and nurse talk to Savannah and she turned to Catherine to explain.

"They want to do an ultrasound to make sure...to make sure the baby is ok. Can you stay with me."

"Of course." The nurse started prepping Savannah for the ultrasound and the doctor turned the machine on and started the ultrasound. Catherine watched the screen and noticed the little spot appear on the screen. _About eight weeks...it's a little jelly bean._ Catherine watched the look on Savannah's face change from one of shock to confusion and happiness.

"Is that it?" asked Savannah signing to Catherine.

"Right now yeah. It gets bigger," signed Catherine. The doctor printed out the picture and was clearly lecturing Savannah about taking better care of herself before leaving the room. Savannah stared at the picture in her hands and wiped her eyes.

"Do you think anything good is going to come from this?"

"Only if you want it too."

…...

Spencer was up with Abby at six am and got a text from Catherine that Savannah was going to be released by eight am.

_Do you think that you can get Abby to daycare? _Abby was sitting in her chair and was gumming her toast and grinning at him.

_Yeah I can take her. How's Savannah?_

_ She's going to be ok. I'm going to take her to pick up herself later on when her mother is at work. I love you and hopefully I'll see you for dinner._

_ I love you too. _Abby looked up at her father and held out a piece of toast to him.

"No that's for you," said/signed Spencer. Abby just kept grinning and tossed her toast on the floor. "Thank you for sharing." He cleaned up her mess, got her dressed and ready for daycare. Spencer looked at her and gave her another kiss on the forehead.

"Come on sweetie." He got her stuff and barely made the train on time. Abby was playing with his tie, she was clearly interested in the texture and color and she tried to put it in her mouth. "That is not for eating." The look she gave him was so much like her mother it stunned him. They got off the train and he was able to drop her off without a lot of questions about if and when Catherine would be back to work.

"Tell her she has our full support and we look forward to having her back on campus," said Sara one the teachers at the high school who was dropping off her son

"Thank you," said Spencer. He barely caught his train back to DC and tried to turn his attention to the case at hand and what he had heard before he went home last night. _Our killer is female and she clearly devolving and is lashing out, the question is how is she finding her victims. It's not like our victims are broadcasting their parental failures all over the place._

Spencer got off the train and walked into the BAU. Emily wasn't there yet and Morgan was sitting at his desk looking over files and trying to keep his eyes open. Morgan looked up when Spencer sat his stuff down.

"JJ went home to get some rest and spend some time with Henry. Hotch is in with Strauss trying to explain what happened with Kyle and I'm not sure about Rossi and Emily. How was your night?"

"I had to take Savannah to hospital when she came over having a panic attack about the fact that her parents were my bullies. Upon finding out that she was pregnant Alexa threw Savannah out and than told me that she never wanted her to begin with and as of this morning, Catherine was going to take her over there to get some of her things and we agreed that she could stay with us for as long as she needed." Morgan stared at him for a good minute before speaking.

"You're going to have a pregnant teenager staying in your home? Wow I have no idea what to say."

"Alexa didn't recognize me and I actually felt sorry for her Morgan. She doesn't realize what an amazing person her daughter is and it just reminds me of Catherine's mother. How can they just walk away from their children? I don't understand it."

"That's because you are madly in love with your child and can't stand the thought of not having her in your life. Let's just get though today. JJ and I got a lead yesterday and we need to follow up on it. You want to come with me?"

"Sure." _Please get us somewhere._

…...

Emily watched Jody stare at her breakfast and pick at it once in awhile. Emily took a sip of coffee and ran a hand through Jody's hair.

"Do you want something else to eat?" asked Emily and Jody shook her head. Emily's phone rang and on the other end was Rossi.

"Are you still home?" asked Rossi.

"I'm actually getting ready to call in. I can't just leave her here or with strangers right now," said Emily.

"Good because I'm walking into your building right now."

"What?"

"I have some things for you and Jody if you don't mind me bring them up."

"Hotch already brought over some of her things."

"She has a whole room full of stuff plus some other things from the house that I think she might like." Before she could say anything else their was a knock on her door. Lilo went running to the door and was growling. _She's on guard now._ Emily went to the door and let Rossi in. He was loaded down with suitcases and a huge box.

"Why didn't you tell me you had all this stuff?" asked Emily taking a box. Jody came into the room and saw Rossi sitting down suitcases.

"Hello Jody," said Rossi and he went over to her and got down to her level so they were eye to eye. "I brought you some things that you might like." He took the box from Emily and opened it for her. Inside were photo albums, framed pictures of her and Kyle, a set of drum sticks and some CD's.

"Your daddy liked music didn't he?" Rossi and Jody nodded. "I thought you might like to have some of his music. I also got you this." Rossi pulled out a small CD player with headphones. Jody took the player and one of the CD's.

"Thank you very much," said Jody softly.

"I have to talk to Emily for a little bit. Can you go into the other room for just a minute sweetie?" asked Rossi. Jody nodded and she took the player and CD into the other room. Emily looked at Rossi and she seemed defeated to him, so unlike her.

"How you holding up?"

"I was up all night with a crying six year old. When she did get to sleep I couldn't sleep...I thought the nightmares were done," said Emily more to herself than to Rossi. Emily sat back down and drained her cup of coffee. Rossi sat down across from her.

"I've contacted someone to clean up Kyle's house this morning, a moving company is going to pack up stuff and place it in a storage unit until you get things settled. Once the house gets sold all the money will be put into a trust for Jody for college or whatever she wants when she turns twenty one." Emily looked at Rossi blankly. "I also have a lawyer you should get in contact with about adoption." Rossi slide a card across the table to her and she looked at it stunned.

"Did you pick out his casket too?"

"Do you want me too?" asked Rossi. Emily sighed.

"I'm still trying to wrap my head around what happened less than twenty four hours ago. At least the reporters haven't figured out that I have Jody with me. I'm worried about sending her back to school until this blows over and even than...kids are the cruelest people in the world and who knows how they're going to treat her."

"She has you and you are one of the toughest people I know." Emily gave him a look. "You took on a former IRA boss and stalled him until we could get to you all so you could keep a young boy safe. If that's not tough I don't know what is."

"Kyle would want his students to be at the service so it should be an open service...after school...he wouldn't want them missing school for him." Rossi pulled out a notebook and handed it to Emily.

"Take all the time you need and if you need any help...don't be afraid to ask for it this time," said Rossi. He had to go in and before he left he gave her a hug. "Hang in there kiddo." Emily nodded and Rossi left. Emily went into the guest room that Jody had slept in last night, she was on the bed with Lilo and was listening to the music.

"Do you mind if I listen too?" asked Emily. Jody handed her one of the ear buds and Kyle's version of Wipe out was playing. "He was good."

"He was the best," countered Jody and she put her head on Emily's lap.

…...

The law office of Hoslter and Sterling were located on the outskirts of the District in an old brownstone. The living room had been turning into the waiting room where a young Asian woman was waiting for them. Morgan and Spencer showed them their badges and she nodded.

"Mr. Hoslter is waiting for you. Please follow me," she said and she took them upstairs to one of the old bedrooms that had been turned into an office. An man about Rossi's age with thinning blond hair was sitting at his desk and had a thick file in front of him.

"Mr. Hoslter my name is Dr. Spencer Reid and this is SSA Derek Morgan."

"Yes, Mina told me that you wanted to know about Sharon. I have her case and file right here," Hoslter handed them her file.

"What can you tell us about Sharon?" asked Morgan.

"We specialize in reuniting families that have been split up by divorce, adoption or children who have been lost to their parents in the foster care system. Sharon had signed off her parental rights to Jody right after she had been born and she wasn't under any pressure to give up Jody and well...we take all cases, but there was no judge in their right mind that would let her have the little girl back. Even I was ready to send her packing after I got the report back."

"What report?" asked Spencer.

"Some of the children have to be relocated and their paper trails get cold so I have a PI do the digging for me on both parties- the parents who have the child and the parents who want them back so that way we have no surprises in court and I know what I'm getting into and can present the best case possible."

"What is the name of this PI?" asked Morgan.

"His name is Jack Siggs," said Hoslter. Morgan gave Spencer a look. The name Jack had come up before, he had been Daniel's sponsor and might have been at Megan's group.

"Can you give us Jack's address?" asked Spencer. Hoslter gave them Sigg's card and they thanked him for his time before leaving. They started talking when they got to the car.

"A PI makes sense. It would explain how they got all the information on everyone," said Spencer.

"Jack might talk to someone or outsource some of his digging to a female co worker or another PI to help him out," said Morgan. Spencer called Hotch to let him know what they had found and gave them the address to meet them at. The drive took them an hour and it was to a run down old apartment building.

"Oh this is cheerful," said Morgan.

"Should we wait for Hotch?" asked Spencer.

"Do you want to wait for Hotch?"

"I want this over with." Morgan nodded and they headed upstairs to the fourth floor where Sigg's office was located. They knocked on the door and got no answer.

"Jack Sigg. This is SSA Derek Morgan with the FBI we have to ask you some questions." Morgan knocked again and their was still no answer. Spencer touched the knob and the door opened a crack.

"Mr. Sigg," called Morgan. All the lights were off in the office and with a look both agents pulled their guns and walked slowly into the office.

"Mr. Sigg," called Spencer and he was taken aback by the sour smell in the office. Morgan opened the curtains in the office and Spencer found a light and turned it on. The office was in disarray and it looked like a struggle had happened and what looked like a drying pool of blood was by the desk.

"Damn," said Morgan.

"Where's the body?" asked Spencer looking around. A low groan came from the other room and both men approached it carefully and opened the door. On the floor was a middle age white man holding a towel to his gut and was shaken.

"Jack Sigg?" asked Morgan.

"No it's Shirley Temple," he spat. Spencer knelt down next to the man and started helping him apply pressure to the stab wound.

"Can you tell us who did this too you?" asked Spencer.

"My crazy former assistant...when you see her tell her she's fired," hissed Jack. The wounds were bad, but since they had gotten there in time he should be ok.

"We need her name," said Morgan before he got on the phone and started calling 911.

"Harper Hillman."

…...

"We'll get your script filled on the way home, we'll get a late breakfast and than we'll start moving stuff out of that room for you ok," signed Catherine has the left the hospital. Savannah nodded and got in the passenger seat of her car. The drive only took thirty minutes and Catherine parked in the street outside Savannah's home.

"My mom should be at work so we should be able to just grab and go," signed Savannah. She looked pale and very nervous.

"It's going to be ok," signed Catherine and she gave her a one armed hug. Savannah gave her a wary smile and she pulled out her keys and they went inside. Catherine wrinkled her nose at the scent in the house, it smelled stale.

"My room is up here," signed Savannah and the two headed upstairs. Savannah went into her bedroom and they two quickly started grabbing clothes and tossed them into a suitcase she had under the bed. School books were placed into her backpack and some other books into a duffel bag.

"We might have to make two trips," suggested Catherine. Savannah shook her head.

"I just wanna take everything at once. I think we have some extra bags in the spare room,"

"Ok. I'll start taking these out to the car and you get the bags ok." Catherine grabbed the suitcase, went to the car and placed the bags in the trunk. Catherine went back inside the house and that smell, a sour smell that hadn't been outside or in Savannah's room was lingering. Catherine shook her head and went back up stairs to help pack. She walked back into Savannah's room and couldn't find her.

"Savannah?" called out Catherine. She didn't come back and Catherine called her again. Nothing appear too have moved since she went out to the car. _Where is she? _ Catherine walked out the room and it dawned on her how dark and closed in the house seemed. All the doors appeared to be closed and she couldn't see Savannah. Catherine called out for her again and nothing. She walked down the hall and went into the first room on the right. The room was a junk room, but no sign of Savannah. _Maybe she went downstairs._ Catherine left the room and went to head back downstairs when she felt someone behind her. She went to turn and she felt the back of her head explode in pain and she fell forward down the stairs. Catherine groaned in pain and went to pick herself up when she felt someone hit her in the head again and everything went black.


	14. Chapter thirteen

Chapter thirteen

Spencer felt his mind freeze and than start going at hundred miles an hour when Jack said it was Harper Hillman that had done this, the girl who had shown him the only kindness he had known from that group in high school was behind three murders and two attempted murders. _Oh god...Catherine and Savannah._ After making sure that Jack was ok and being treated by medics, Spencer started texting Catherine hoping that she hadn't gone over to Alexa's yet. _God please pick up...please pick up. _Spencer was starting to fight panic when he couldn't reach her.

"Reid?" asked Morgan seeing the younger agent getting paler by the second.

"Catherine was supposed to go over to Alexa's with Savannah to get her things. Harper was there when Alexa threw Savannah out and said she never wanted her. Catherine isn't returning any my texts." The medics took Jack out an Morgan started picking up the files that had been knocked over.

"Harper helped do all the research on these cases, she had access to all our victim's info and what happened between them and their children," said Morgan.

"If she sticks with her pattern Alexa is next," said Spencer. The two quickly headed out and Morgan was calling Hotch to tell him what had happened and to have them meet up at Alexa's house and Spencer got on the phone with Garcia.

"I need all the information you can give me about a Harper Hillman." Spencer could hear the keys clicking and he kept hoping to hear the ding of an incoming text. _Please pick up your phone...please pick up your phone..._

"Ok Harper Hillman...she has a degree in law and until last year she was happily married with two kids: Josh and Summer until her husband filed for divorce and than he and both kids were killed in a car crash. Harper lost her job at a law firm and than she started doing background checks for Jack Sigg."

"How old were the kids?" asked Spencer.

"Josh was seventeen and Summer was six," said Garcia. "Oh my Josh was driving the car." Wheels started clicking in Spencer's head. _ Harper lost her family and she can't stand others that do...seventeen...the divorce._

"Why did they file for divorce?" asked Spencer.

"No reason was listed. They were only eighteen they got married, she had Josh a few months after the wedding. Hello shotgun...huh this odd, the father was only going for sole custody on Summer and not Josh." The wheels started turning faster for Spencer. Her first kill was Daniel...was he her stressor or was he something more?

"Can you send Morgan pictures of what Josh looked like?"

"Don't know why, but ok whatever you want." Morgan had hung up with Hotch and got the file Garcia had sent them. Spencer looked at it and felt his heart stop. _That's why she killed him first...he ruined her life and than she couldn't stop._

"Garcia can you text Catherine for me and have her text me the second she gets back to you?" asked Spencer trying to hide the panic in his voice.

"Ok." They hung up and Spencer was trying to stay calm, but Morgan knew him too well.

"They're going to be ok."

"Just get us there."

…...

It felt like her head was splitting open and for reasons Catherine couldn't figure out her wrists and shoulders were starting to hurt. _I can't move my hands. _Catherine felt something digging into her ankles and she couldn't help but let out a moan.

"Where...what's going on," muttered Catherine. She went to move her hands again and they felt like something sticky was on them. Catherine opened her eyes slowly and it made her headache even worse. Catherine found that she was still on the floor of Savannah's home and that stale smell was still in the air and now it was starting to smell coppery to her. _Like Kyle's...oh god...Savannah._ Catherine tried to get up and found she couldn't. She looked behind her and her ankles had been tied together with duct tape and so were hands. _What the hell..._She tried to move again and found that everything hurt and that she couldn't move very far.

"Savannah..."whispered Catherine. She forced herself to roll over from her stomach to her back and winced at how much it hurt. However, it made movement easier and she started to scoot herself backwards and she started trying to find something to help get her free. She had barely gotten anywhere when a tall red headed woman came back into the room dragging Savannah with her. The young girl was clearly upset and was trying to talk to the older woman. The woman turned and looked at Catherine and just shook her head and started talking to Savannah. Savannah started getting even more upset and was clearly begging. That's when Catherine noticed the knife in the other woman's hands and she started trying to force herself backwards faster trying to find anything to help free herself. Catherine couldn't read what was being said since they weren't facing her directly, but she could tell it was not good. The woman motioned over to Savannah and than to back to Catherine.

"Please...please don't hurt her," said Catherine. She tried to push herself backwards again but her hands were going numb making it harder to move. The red headed woman looked at her with an odd sort of smile and than she pulled Savannah into the room with her. She made Savannah sit down next to her and she pointed the knife at Catherine.

"She wants to talk to you," said/signed Savannah. Catherine forced herself to take a deep breath.

"I can't like this," said Catherine gesturing to her hands.

"Your mother used to silence you this way didn't she? She would hold your hands until they hurt and she made you cry until you spoke. We can talk like this?" said/signed Savannah her hands shaking.

"How...how do you know that?" asked Catherine. The red headed woman smiled.

"Oh I know all about you Catherine Mary Reid. Your maiden name is Dueringer. Your father- Andrew Dueringer is a Principal at a Vegas elementary school and your step mother Erin works as a casino event planner. You finished high school when you were sixteen, got a Bachelor's in World Languages when you were twenty one and than a Master's in Education at twenty three. You had your appendix removed when you were eleven, a broken arm at fourteen and a miscarriage at twenty eight. Your first marriage ended a few months after if happened and your ex is now living in Chicago with a new wife and two small children. I used to go school with your current husband Dr. Spencer Franklin Reid... well there isn't much I don't know about you Catherine." said/signed Savannah looking stunned at her teacher and the woman with the knife. Catherine felt a wave of panic go through her and she looked at Savannah who was clearly scared out of her mind.

"It's ok, Savannah," said Catherine and than she looked back to the woman with the knife. "I'm asking you...please...please don't hurt her. Just let her go." The woman's smile got bigger and she just shook her head.

"I would never hurt her. Just like you I've looked after her and kept her safe. You are so unlike your mother it's unreal. Did she tell you that she just left you in your crib alone when you were six months and just walked out of your life? I don't understand how you could even visit that that woman in the hospital when she was never there for you. How you could forgive that?" said/signed Savannah. The woman was clearly pissed off and she was shaking.

"I didn't forgive her...I felt sorry for her. How sad and empty her life must be. I've been her only visitor...what about you? Why are you so sad?" asked Catherine slowly. The woman just shook her head.

"I will never understand how you and Savannah ended up to be such nice people when your mothers and in Savannah's case her father too were compete and total waste of space. I tried so hard to have good to family...I tried so hard to live a good life and all it took was one mistake to have it go away. Yet...those people thought after all the horrible things they did thought they had a right to come back and try to be a family again. They would only hurt you again and I couldn't let that happen. I am sorry that mistakes were made with your mother Catherine. She shouldn't have lived," Savannah started crying and she started yelling at the other woman. The other woman just shook her head no and went to hug Savannah and she pushed away from her.

"Savannah calm down...it's going to be ok. Please just let her go. She doesn't need to be apart of this," said Catherine trying to stay calm. Spencer knew she was supposed to come here this morning and that if she didn't come home he would worry about her. The only issue was that it could be hours before he realized she and Savannah were missing. The woman shook her head and she grabbed Savannah and pulled her out of the room. Catherine's hands were totally numb by now and moving backwards was starting to become impossible and she couldn't see anything that would help her free herself.

A few moments later they came back into the room and the red headed woman was making Savannah carry a body. She motioned for Savannah to bring the body over to her, the person she was dragging was badly beaten and Catherine could smell that sour and coppery smell on her and she fought back the urge to gag. Savannah sat it down and that's when Catherine noticed she was still alive, barely alive but still alive. The woman pointed the knife at the badly beaten woman and than back at her and Catherine could make out one word: Choose. Savannah looked horrified and shook her no. The other woman's face went red and she started screaming at Savannah and pointing the knife at the beaten woman and Savannah's face went pale and she just shook her head no and she fell on the floor crying.

_She must be Savannah's mother...oh god...she's still alive. She wants Savannah to choose either her mother or me...oh god..._Catherine's only concern at that moment was to try and get Savannah out of here before she got hurt. _Spencer would understand...he's done this before for the team._

"Let Savannah and her mother go and take me...don't hurt them please," said Catherine. The red headed woman looked at her, just shook her head and had this look of glee on her face. The woman and Savannah were having a heated exchanged and she kept getting closer to Catherine. Catherine scooted towards her a little and before she could react Catherine kicked out her legs, got the woman in her shins and knocked her to the floor.

"RUN!" screamed Catherine. Savannah scrambled to her feet and ran from the room when the woman tried to get up again and Catherine tried kicking at her again and missed. The woman turned to Catherine and looked murderous. She wrapped her hands around Catherine's neck and started choking her and she slammed Catherine's head into the floor. Everything around her started to go gray and she started to see little spots dancing in front of her. _Spencer...Abby...Savannah...I loved you all. _Everything went black.

…...

Spencer and Morgan pulled up to the house just has Savannah was running out the house, screaming and covered in blood.

"HELP! SOMEBODY HELP ME!" Spencer and Morgan jumped out of the car with weapons pulled. Morgan caught Savannah who was clearly running on panic and fear.

"Talk to me baby girl."

"Catherine...my mom...oh my god..." Morgan made her sit down.

"Just stay here, help is on the way," said Morgan. They went into the house and they heard a gasping sound and someone muttering.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" They quickly went into the living room and they saw Harper pinning someone to the ground and a badly beaten body on the floor.

"Harper Hillman! FBI. Turn around!" ordered Morgan. The gasping sound had stopped and Harper let out a moan.

"Oh god no!" Harper got up and Spencer saw that it was Catherine and she wasn't moving. Harper saw them and she just shook her head. "I didn't mean too."

"No," whispered Spencer and he didn't care about arresting Harper or anything else other than his wife laying still on the ground. Morgan quickly cuffed Harper and Spencer went over to Catherine and noticed that she had a serious head wound, bruising around her neck and that she wasn't breathing.

"No...No...No..." Spencer tilted her head back and started doing CPR. _Please. Please no...don't leave me. _"Come on..." he started doing chest compression. "Please...please..."

"Reid," said a voice softly. He paid them no mind and started around round of chest compressions. He felt someone touching his shoulder.

"Don't touch me!" he snapped and he breathed into her mouth again when Catherine started coughing and moaning. Spencer just held her and fought the urge to cry.

"Spencer," moaned Catherine.

"It's ok," he told her. It was than he noticed Hotch was behind him and he bent down and started un-taping Catherine's hands and legs.

"Medics are on the way," said Hotch softly and he turned his attention to Alexa to make sure she was ok. Catherine's hands had started to change color from lack of circulation and Spencer took her hands in his and started to rub them.

"It's ok...you're safe now..." whispered Spencer to himself. The medics almost had to pull Spencer away from Catherine to treat her.

"She's going to need some stitches," said one of the medics. Catherine was carefully placed on a gurney and she reached out and took his hand and wouldn't let it go. Spencer saw Harper in the back of one of the police cars and Savannah was being consoled by Morgan.

"Is Savannah ok," signed Catherine.

"She's fine," signed Spencer. They got into the back of amblance and the medics started cleaning Catherine's head wound and she squeezed his hand.

"I knew that you would come for me," she whispered. Spencer kissed her forehead. _Always._


	15. Chapter fourteen

Chapter fourteen

The cops took Harper into custody and drove her back to the BAU to be questioned there. Morgan found Savannah sitting on the crub and she was clearly shaken up. _What did you see honey._ Morgan came over and touched her on the shoulder and the poor girl nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Savannah. The police are going to need to take your clothes for evidence and we need to ask you some questions. Do you want to ride with me or another officer?" asked Morgan.

"Can I ride with you?" asked Savannah standing up.

"Ok. Do you need to be looked at by anyone?" Savannah shook her head no and Morgan got her into the SUV and started the drive back to the BAU.

"Is Mrs. Reid going to be ok?" asked Savannah.

"I think she's going to be ok." She nodded and started looking back out the window. _She didn't ask about her mother._ Morgan had watched Alexa being wheeled out and the medics seem frantic while working on her. "After we finish I can take you to the hospital so you can be with Catherine and your mother." Savannah just glared out the window

"She's not my mother." The hurt and rage in her voice was so strong it seemed to come from another person, not the sweet girl he had met a few days ago. _What the hell happened in the house?_ Nothing else was said the rest of the ride back and Morgan found her something to change into and than waited outside while the techs took Savannah's blood stained clothes. Once they were finished Morgan took Savannah into another room and got her some water. He hated this part of the job at times, but he had developed some trust with her and knew that delaying the questioning wouldn't do her any good.

"Savannah...I need you to tell me what happened when you and Catherine got to the house," said Morgan. She took a sip of her water and tried to calm down.

"Mrs. Reid came over to my house to help me get some of my things so I could stay with her and Dr. Reid. She went to take some of my stuff out to the car and I went to get a extra bag out of the spare room and I heard some moaning coming from my mother's room...I don't know why I went in there and she...you saw her." Morgan nodded, how she survived the attack was beyond him.

"I saw her and my...Harper standing over with a knife. I went to scream and she grabbed me and put her hand over my mouth. We heard Mrs. Reid come back in and start looking for me. Harper told me to stay there or else she would kill them both. I just froze...she took an old alarm clock and I heard her knock Mrs. Reid...Catherine down the stairs. She made me get the duct tape and tape her up...I tried to make it not so tight, but she saw what I was doing and she threatened her again. We went back upstairs again. She told me that I was going with her and we were leaving town...but we had to deal with my mother." Savannah wiped her eyes and tried to keep calm.

"I begged her to just leave her and we could go, but Catherine woke up and she started calling for me. Harper said that she would see and we went back down stairs. I don't know why...why didn't I try to get away sooner?"

"People have a fight or flight reaction for survival and your instincts were telling you to wait," said Morgan.

"Catherine was trying to crawl away and Harper told me that she wanted to talk to Catherine and that she wanted me to be the interpreter. She started just rambling and she knew all this really personal stuff about Catherine."

"What kind of personal stuff?" asked Morgan. If Harper had been following Catherine it was just another nail in her coffin at trial, but he had to be sure.

"Freaky stuff, like that she was married before, what her parents do for a living, that she had miscarriage...really personal stuff. It gave me the creeps and it was also creeping Catherine out and she starting talking about how she couldn't understand how we turned out the way we did when our mothers sucked and she said that she was sorry that Catherine's mom lived. She said it wasn't fair that our parents were terrible people and they still got to have us and that she had tried to be a good person and that everything got taken away from her and it wasn't fair. I just started yelling at her about how it wasn't fair what she was doing to us, that despite everything I still loved my mother and that this made her a terrible person. She told me that she never meant to hurt me and she went to hug me and I pushed her away. Catherine kept asking her to let me go...Harper just got more pissed off and she said that Catherine loved me more than my mother ever would and she could prove it." Savannah stated shaking and Morgan took her hand and squeezed.

"It's ok if you want to take break."

"No. She made me go back upstairs and my mother was still alive..she made me help her carry back downstairs. Her eyes were closed and she wouldn't look at me even when I told her that it was going to be ok. Harper made me put her next to Catherine and than she told me to choose who to kill. My mother or Catherine and I told I wouldn't do it. She got so mad and she told me that when Dr. Reid...Spencer tried to talk to my mother last night she told him that the only reason she had me was because my father wanted me and she didn't. I knew it was true...it just...makes sense. She got closer to Catherine and Catherine kicked Harper and she fell...she told me to run and I did. I just left her there...how could I do that to her?"

"I told you before that trying to survive is not based on logic it's just instincts. Your instincts told you to go, get help and that this would be your only chance to get it. You did what you had to do and I know Catherine and Spencer won't hold that against you," said Morgan.

"Do you know when I'll be able to see them?" asked Catherine.

"Let me call my boss and see what's going on" Morgan left the room and ran into JJ. She had come in while they were on their way to Alexa's. She was across the hall trying to talk to Harper.

"How's it going in there?" asked Morgan. JJ rolled her eyes.

"She's hasn't asked for a lawyer yet, but she said she won't talk to me. She wants to talk to Reid."

…...

She would have a very sore windpipe, some bad bruising around her neck and on her body from when she was knocked down the stairs and she also ended up with ten stitches in her head from where Harper hit her in the head with a blunt object. On the other hand she was alive and Spencer knew that she would be ok with time. Currently she was propped up in the bed and was waiting to be released. Hotch was talking to a doctor about Alexa's condition, Spencer was surprised she had survived the attack at all, she had numerous stab wounds and had been badly beaten. She was in surgery right now. Spencer's concern right now was Catherine and she hadn't really spoken to him since the doctor had finished her stitches.

"Catherine," signed Spencer taking her hand.

"Did you know that she just left me in my crib when I was baby?" asked Catherine looking at him sadly.

"Your father didn't want me to tell you" Catherine started twisting her ring. "I know I promised to tell you what was going with the case, but I didn't know how to tell you that."

"Was there anything else my father didn't want you to tell me?"

"I don't think that..." Catherine cut him off.

"I was nearly killed by a woman who knew my mother abandoned and knew that my ex-husband was remarried and has two children with his new wife amongst other information I thought was private so I have the right to know everything Spencer." Her signing was quick and was clearly upset. _I did promise her the truth._

"He said that your mother had a drinking problem which could have caused your brain bleed and in turn caused you to lose your hearing. He didn't know that she was drinking while she was pregnant." Catherine quickly wiped her eyes and looked down at the blanket.

"I actually felt sorry for her." Spencer took her hand.

"Addiction is an illness Catherine," signed Spencer thinking of his struggle with addiction and Catherine shook her head.

"No what she did was selfish, Spencer. She constantly betlittled me for my hearing loss and the whole time she was part of the cause. I was going to lose my hearing sooner or later, but she was cruel about it. Don't try to compare what you went through to what she went through...you actually wanted to get better and have worked tiredless to not go back to that and you would never..._never_ treat Abby the way she treated me."

"You have ever right to be angry with her for what she did, it was selfish and unfair. I just want you to know that part of it wasn't her, but the part of it that was her...it made was bad in her worse. She just couldn't see how cruel it was until it was too late. I know what that's like. I'm not asking you to forgive her Catherine...I hate the fact that she hurt you. I just didn't want her hurt you anymore." Catherine took his hand and he kissed her forehead.

"Is Savannah alright?" Spencer mentally kicked himself. His focus and concern was entirely on Catherine and he had forgotten about everything else.

"I'll call Morgan in a minute to see how she's doing. Are you ok?"

"I'm really sore and I want to see Abby...I thought for second I wasn't going to see any of you again and..." Spencer leaned over and kissed her hard. He knew what is like to have those thoughts and it was one more thing that he never wanted her to go through.

"I'll call Garcia to see if she can pick up Abby so we can go home once the doctor makes sure you're ok," signed Spencer. Spencer heard a knock on the door and Hotch poked his head in.

"Reid, can I talk to you for a moment?" asked Hotch.

"I'll be right back," signed Spencer. He went out into the hall with Hotch.

"How is she?" asked Hotch.

"She needed stitches and she's going to be sore for a few days. We're just waiting for the doctor to give the ok to leave."

"I need to talk with her first Reid," said Hotch. The younger agent glared at him and Hotch knew how protective Spencer towards his wife, it was how he used to be with Haley. _How you used to be with Emily._

"Can you give her some time to rest?" _Hasn't she been through enough already?_

"If I thought delaying this would help her I would, but you delaying it is only going to make it worse," said Hotch. Spencer sighed, he knew Hotch was right it didn't make it any better.

"Ok, just give me a minute." Spencer went back into the room to talk to Catherine as Hotch's phone went off. Catherine looked at him confused.

"Hotch needs to talk with you about what happened before we can go home." Catherine sighed and laid back in the bed.

"Once this is over we can go home right?"

"Yes." Hotch came back into the room looking grim.

"Reid...once we're finished here I need you to go back to the BAU and I'll take Catherine home," said Hotch. Catherine missed what he said, but she could tell Spencer was pissed about it.

"Why?"

"Harper Hillman is refusing to talk to anybody. She only wants to speak to you." Spencer balled his hands into fists and Catherine knew it wasn't good and he was clearly upset.

"I'm not leaving her and it's unfair of you to ask me to," said Spencer.

"I know it's not I wouldn't ask you to so if it wasn't important to end this," said Hotch. Catherine watched them talk back and forth, it was becoming clear that Hotch needed Spencer to do something that would involve leaving her. Catherine reached over and took his hand.

"It's ok," she said softly. Spencer turned and looked at her confused. "If you have leave than it's ok...I'll be ok and I'll see you at home with Abby," signed Catherine. Spencer looked at her and shook his head.

"Are you sure?" asked Spencer and she nodded.

"I love you and I just want this over with." Spencer kissed her forehead.

"Ok...ok. I'll talk to her." Spencer gave her one last look before leaving. Hotch sat down next to her.

"Thank you for talking to him," signed Hotch.

"Your signing has gotten much better," signed Catherine. She remember when he could barely sign 'how are you' without looking at his hands. "When did Spencer find time to teach you?"

"Lots of plane rides home," fibbed Hotch. It had been Emily who had taught him on nights after they would get together after cases and have dinner together. Catherine shook her head.

"Is Savannah's mother going to be ok?"

"We hope so. Are you sure you feel up to this?"

"I just want to get this over with."


	16. Chapter fifteen

Chapter fifteen

Spencer had to take several deep breaths to compose himself both going into the room where Harper was. The last time he had seen her before yesterday was after their math final in high school, he finished quickly, turned his test in and went back to his desk to read. He looked over and Harper, she was biting her lip and filling in the answer key. She wasn't your typical stupid cheerleader, she was actually one of the top ten in her class and was quickly solving the equations. She turned her test in next and went back to her desk and started doodling in her notebook. When time was up and the class was dismissed Harper looked over at him and it looked like she wanted to say something, but she couldn't get it out. She quickly shook her head and left the room.

"Reid?" asked Morgan coming up to him. "How's Catherine?"

"She needed some stitches and she's going to be sore for awhile, but she's going to be ok. Hotch is with her right now."

"Are you ok?"

"I'm about to go and talk with the person who nearly killed my wife and two other people. Not to mention the three other people she killed. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to feel right now." Morgan nodded. "How's Savannah doing?"

"She's trying to cope with the fact that her mother was nearly killed and finding out that she wasn't wanted. She's worried about Catherine and worried that you're going to be mad at her about Catherine getting hurt."

"Why would I be mad at her? She didn't hurt Catherine?"

"She's a seventeen year old girl and she's just scared out of her mind right now about everything," said Morgan.

"I'll talk to her once I'm finished with Harper. Just tell her it's going to be ok. Can you ask Garcia if she would be willing to pick up Abby for me and take her home to Catherine." Morgan nodded.

"Good luck in there." Morgan turned and went back down the hall. Spencer took a deep breath and walked into the room. Harper was sitting there and was staring at the table, she looked up when she heard him come in. Time had not been easy on her and it showed, her hair was going gray in places and was looking much older than thirty six. She bit her lip like she was in high school again and looked down at the table.

"I'm sorry that...that I hurt your wife. I know how much she means to you...I've seen how you two are with each other and how much she loves your daughter. She's a very good mother."

"You followed Catherine for your job?" asked Spencer trying to stay calm. Harper nodded.

"It was easy. She didn't know who I was so I was able to watch her without being noticed. Savannah talked about her all the time. 'Mrs. Reid helped me with this project' 'Mrs. Reid got me an internship for summer.' She's more of a mother to Savannah than Lexi ever was..." Harper bit her lip harder and Spencer thought about how to play this and the best way was just talk to her and try to sympathize with her.

"You looked after Savannah too. She told me that you seemed to be the only one in her house that she could talk to about her father's death." Harper barely kept her eyes from rolling.

"Her father was a worthless asshole. I don't need to tell you that."

"My feelings about him don't really matter here. How did Daniel get into contact with you? He hadn't contacted Savannah in years so how did he find you?"

"He knew that they had moved to DC and he met up with Jack at his support group. Jack takes pity on them and agrees to do the look up for free. That's where I came in."

"You do the looking up and the following?" asked Spencer, Harper nodded. "Daniel asked up you to look up Alexa and Savannah?"

"He just wanted Savannah. He wanted to apologize for leaving her with Lexi."

"But not to you," said Spencer. Harper glared at him.

"What do you mean?"

"Alexa and Savannah are living with you, you're taking care of this daughter and he didn't want to thank you or anything."

"Of course not...why would he?"

"You wanted to protect Savannah and you couldn't let him near her?"

"He walked out on her once and you really think he was going to stick around to be her parent? Danny was a piece of shit and really the world is better place. Savannah will be better off without him, she just doesn't know it yet."

"Can you tell me about Megan?" asked Spencer.

"She came to Jack too and I heard her telling him about her daughter and well their aren't many Catherine Reid's who are Deaf and work in Drama departments and teach Japanese and French. She was easy to find. I couldn't believe her...she abandoned your wife and than just thought she had the right to come back into her life. I couldn't let her hurt Catherine...it would hurt you too and I wasn't going to let that happen."

Spencer took a deep breath and twisted his wedding ring.

"Sharon came to you through the lawyers?" asked Spencer.

"Worthless useless drunken bitch. She didn't want Jody back, she just wanted Kyle to give her money to go away. Than again who knows which piece of shit parent she was better off with. The drunk parent or the sex pervert?"

"You found Kyle's deleted files when we did," said Spencer.

"I was curious. You guys had him in custody so I just did a little snooping...I couldn't believe what I found on his computer. Freak. Who knows how many girls he was with?"

"Actually we found out that she sent him the photos under the guise of a term paper she wanted reviewed. Kyle deleted them. He went right to girl's parents and told them what she had done. Kyle didn't do anything to that girl." Harper blinked back tears and looked at the table.

"What's going to happen to his daughter?"

"She's going to be ok." Harper clearly was showing signs of remorse. She was a mission based killer and the people she had killed were what she felt were parents that didn't deserve their children. Her remorse towards Catherine and Kyle showed that she still somewhat sane.

"Harper...I know that you were just trying to protect Savannah and the others. Is that why you tried to kill Alexa?"

"That bitch is still alive?"

"For now...she's still in surgery. You used to be friends. What happened between you two?"

"She didn't understand what an amazing child and life she could have had if she hadn't been such an ungrateful mean spirited bitch. It wasn't fair." Spencer had a feeling where this was going and he knew he had to tread lightly if he was going to get anywhere.

"I read about what happened to your family and I'm sorry for your loss. What happened to cause your husband to leave you?"

"We grew apart," said Harper quickly.

"But than why did your husband only want custody of your daughter?" She glared at Spencer.

"Did your own snooping than?"

"It is part of my job." She glared down at the table.

"You have no idea what it was like being part of that crowd, Spencer. They used me to get what they wanted. They were never my friends...no matter what I did I never belonged. I thought once I went away to college that it would stop and for awhile it did. I made new friends, I fell in love and my life was finally starting to come together. Than I came home for the Thanksgiving and they just sucked me back in. We were at a party and I was sitting outside and Daniel started talking to me, he wasn't happy with Alexa. He told me all they did was fight all the time and that he wanted to break if off. We started drinking and than one thing just led to another..." Harper's hands were shaking and she could barely keep her voice steady. "I should have known better. All those things he said...he had said them to all the girls, but I actually thought for a second...it wasn't fair to make think that...it wasn't fair to make me think he loved me. Of course Alexa gets knocked up, he marries her. I get knocked up and he won't return my calls. Troy thought the baby was his and why wouldn't he. He worked two jobs so I could finish school, he gave up everything for me and I loved him. We were happy together...than Alexa moved up to DC...Troy just looked at her and than at Josh and he knew. He confronted me about it and I couldn't lie to him anymore. He told me he never wanted to see me again and that he hated me for lying. He filed for divorce and Josh couldn't understand why his father didn't want to see him anymore. One day, Josh asked to borrow the car and he told me he would pick Summer up from school. I let him have the keys and went to work...ten hours later I get a call from the police. Josh and Troy died on the scene, but Summer held on for three days. She told me...she told me Josh and Daddy were fighting in the car and that Josh got mad and started driving really fast. Troy told Josh the truth and my son killed himself, my husband and my daughter. He got one thing from his father. Both of them were completely selfishness. It didn't matter who they hurt."

"Harper...don't you think all the lies you told were selfish and hurt people?"asked Spencer.

"I tried so hard to be a good person and you have no idea what it's like to see the horrible people around you never get what's coming to them. You know how awful they were Spencer and let me tell they only got worse. You know what Alexa told me last night after she admitted she never wanted Savannah. She wasn't even sure if she was Danny's kid and that having her was only to get Danny to stay and take care of her. I loved my children." Spencer had nothing further to say to her, they had their confession and he wanted to go home. He stood up and went to leave the room.

"You're lucky you know...you've had a very good life. I read what Danny wrote to you and he was right, we were jealous of you,"said Harper. Spencer simply nodded and left the room. He went back down the hall towards Morgan's office were Savannah was sleeping on his sofa.

"Garcia went to go get Abby a little bit ago. How did it go?"

"She confessed to everything." Spencer felt his phone vibrate and it was a text from Catherine letting him know that Hotch was taking him home.

_I'll be there soon._

"I'm done questioning Savannah and I'm sure Hotch would be more than willing to take your report in the morning. Go home and get some rest kid." Morgan left the office and Spencer sat down across from Savannah and shook her lightly.

"Savannah...Savannah wake up." The young girl jerked in her sleep and looked at him.

"Oh. Dr. Reid," she sat up and looked down at her hands. "Is...is Mrs. Reid..."

"Catherine's fine and she's waiting for us back home." Savannah looked at him stunned.

"I'm really sorry about..." Spencer cut her off.

"It's not your fault. None of this is your fault. Come on let's go home," said Spencer. Savannah teared up and she reached over and hugged him hard.

"Thank you."

…...

Spencer let them into the apartment and found Catherine sitting on the sofa with Garcia and was holding Abby. She was smiling at Abby and was fighting tears has Garcia gave her a one armed hug.

"I love you so much," whispered Catherine kissing the baby on her forehead. Garcia noticed Spencer and Savannah had come in.

"Hey," Garcia stood up and hugged Savannah tightly. "Give me an hour or so and I'll bring over some of your stuff ok. Hang in there kiddo. You too boy genius," She hugged him too and took her leave of them. Spencer noticed that Catherine had changed her shirt so it hid the marks on her neck, but it was hard to hide the stitches on her head or how she winced when she got off the sofa to hand Abby off to Spencer and to give Savannah a hug.

"It's not as bad as it looks. The doctor said it would get better in a few days," signed Catherine once Spencer took Abby from her. The baby looked up at him and he kissed the top of her head and let her play with his tie. Catherine hugged Savannah and Savannah hugged her back tightly. It reminded him of how he and Emily hugged when he found out she was alive. _She just so happy that she's ok._

"Are you ok?" asked Catherine.

"I'm fine."

"Come on. I'll show you the junk room we need to clean up," signed Catherine. She and Savannah went down the hall and Spencer stayed their holding Abby close. He looked down at Abby and noticed that her eyes were starting to change again. They were starting to change to the same dark brown as Catherine's. Spencer quickly wiped his eyes, he didn't want to think of what he would do if he had loss Catherine today. He went down the hall and saw that Catherine was signing about that she was sorry about how small it was, that they would have to get her bed and that they could get a storage locker or something for her other things. Savannah just shook her head and she gave Catherine a small smile and Spencer couldn't help but recall how much she looked like her mother, but something was difference about her appearance. The smile that Alexa would give people didn't have any warmth or feeling behind it, Savannah's on the other hand was just the opposite.

"I can never thank you and...Spencer enough for this," said/signed Savannah

"And you don't have too," signed Catherine. Abby started squirming in his arms and Catherine noticed him.

"I think she's hungry," signed Catherine and she took the baby from him. "Give me ten minutes to feed her and we'll start on that room." Catherine took Abby into her room to feed and Spencer looked over at Savannah.

"She's right you know. You don't need to thank us." Savannah ducked her head.

"How did my parents not see what an awesome guy you are?"

"They didn't see me the way you and Catherine do. Do you want to go to hospital and see your mom? She's probably out of surgery." Savannah just shook her head no and the expression on her face turned cold.

"No I don't want to see her. Harper told me what my mother told you last night. That she didn't want me. I just don't understand her and I don't want to." Spencer put a hand on her shoulder and didn't know what to said. He knew what it was like to be angry with your parent for hurting you. Like Catherine, Savannah just needed time to sort everything out and someone to help her through it.

…...

Savannah fell asleep after dinner on the sofa with her hands resting on her midsection. It reminded Spencer of when Catherine was pregnant with Abby, she slept the same way. A subconscious way of protecting her baby. Savannah's phone started ringing again and Spencer saw she had another missed text from someone. Catherine was sitting on the floor with Abby, the baby was holding a small soft toy in her hand and was staring at intently. Catherine was playing with the baby's hair and couldn't stop looking at her. Spencer turned off Savannah's phone and covered her up with a blanket before sitting down on the floor with Catherine and Abby. Abby tossed her toy away and started to whine and stretch on the floor.

"I think she's ready for bed," signed Catherine picking her up. Spencer followed her while she got Abby changed and ready for bed. Abby just fell asleep the second Catherine sat down in the rocking chair with her. She put the baby in her crib and than she couldn't stop looking at her. Spencer put his hand on her shoulder and Catherine turned around and hugged him tightly.

"I thought I would never see her again or you," whispered Catherine. Spencer hugged her just as tightly. He couldn't put into words how if felt to see her not breathing and the possibility that he couldn't save her.

"Let's just go bed," signed Spencer. Catherine followed him to the bedroom and they got ready for bed. They got into bed and Spencer just held her tightly. They didn't know what to say to each other, but there would be time to sort out everything out. All that mattered was that they still had each other.


	17. Chapter sixteen

Chapter sixteen

The next few days went by quickly and with the help of Morgan and Garcia they moved Savannah into their apartment. Spencer heard Alexa had been moved to a recovery wing, but wasn't asking for visitors and Savannah had expressed no interest in seeing her mother. It was Sunday night and Catherine was giving Abby her bath and Savannah was sitting on sofa reading a book when someone started knocking on the door and ringing the door bell light. So far they had managed to not get any press attention, but Spencer was leery of answering the door. He got up anyway and looked through the peephole. Saul was standing there and was looking worried and frustrated. Spencer opened the door and the teenager came into the apartment.

"Where's Savannah?! Is she here?!" asked Saul. Savannah came into the entryway looking at him worried. Saul looked at her and he seemed relieved to see her.

"Oh thank god!" Saul walked past Spencer and hugged her tightly. "I've been worried sick about you for almost two days. You weren't return my calls and I was getting all these calls and messages about you being sick and Mrs. R being attacked and...god someone killed Mr. Jackson. What the hell is going on Peaches?" Savannah looked down at the floor and than back up at Spencer.

"Do you mind giving us a moment?"

"Ok." Spencer left the room and went into the bathroom where Catherine was giving Abby her bath. Spencer knelt down next to her and rolled up his sleeves to help her with Abby.

"Who was at door?" asked Catherine. She had seen the light go off, but she was busy with Abby.

"Someone must of called Saul other than his mother and he must of caught a train home and and he and Savannah are talking right now." Catherine got Abby out of the tub and Spencer handed her towel. He was listening to see if he could hear anything from the living room, he didn't hear anything so they must be signing. Catherine got Abby into her pajamas and than handed her to Spencer.

"I was going to get her bottle, but I don't want to go out there. They need to talk this out," signed Catherine.

"Do you think she's going to tell him that she's pregnant?" asked Spencer.

"She's not going to be able to hide it forever, but she's been through a lot in the past few days and she's already worried that Saul is going to break up with her when she tells him. She's lost too many people this week and I don't think she wants to lose Saul too," signed Catherine.

"I don't think he's going to break up with her. He's clearly worried about her," signed Spencer. Before he could say anything else he heard Savannah say.

"Saul...just wait a minute...Saul." He heard the front door slam and than he heard Savannah go down the hall and slam the door to her room. Catherine saw Spencer's face turn into a wince

"What did you hear?" asked Catherine.

"Saul left while Savannah was talking to him and I heard her slam her door. Maybe you should talk to her?" signed Spencer.

"Let's give her a few minutes. Trust me it's best to give her a minute."

"Speaking from experience," teased Spencer.

"Yep. Come on let's get one kid handed before we tackle another one." They got Abby to bed, Spencer went to call Hotch to see if he needed to come in tomorrow and Catherine went to talk to Savannah. She was sitting on her bed and was drawing in a sketch book.

"You wanna talk about it?" Savannah sat her book down and sighed.

"I gave Saul a cliff note version of what happened and he was a little upset that I didn't call him sooner and he wanted to know why I didn't call him and I told him why. I told him I was pregnant and he just hugged me and told me it was ok and than he just started making all these plans for our lives and I told him no. He wants me to move to New York this summer and he'll get a job and than we'll get married and have this baby and I can't. I love him, but I can't do what he wants. He just looked so sad when I said no and before I could tell him why he just walked away. I love him. I really do, but I'm not ready for marriage and babies and all of it is just too much right now. I just want him to understand that I'm trying to find the whole right and I just know that no matter what I do that it's not going to be 100 percent right and that someone is going to be hurt."

"In most cases there is never a whole right and someone always gets hurt, the important thing is that when it's done that you can be ok with" signed Catherine.

"Sage wisdom?" asked Savannah.

"When I got married the first time, I thought I was doing it for the right reasons. I loved Paul. We had been together for awhile and it just seemed like the right thing to do...than we both started to realize that we weren't ready for marriage and that it wasn't the right thing after all and at the time I didn't want to admit it, but I still had feelings for Spencer and I hadn't let them go yet. I hurt them both, but in the end, I did the right thing. We needed the time apart to grow up and it was the best thing for us. You never know if it's the right thing until afterward."

"I just hope that someday he'll understand that we're not ready for this and that he'll still love me when this over." Catherine gave her a hug.

"I think we all need time to sort everything out. Just give him time honey." Savannah nodded and Catherine left her bedroom. Spencer was in their bedroom finishing up his talk with Hotch. He hung up the phone and turned to Catherine.

"Hotch says that Harper is due in court tomorrow morning, but he spoke to the DA and since Harper is pleading guilty there won't be any need for you or Savannah testify. He told me to come back in Tuesday morning to finish up the paper work, but that I could have Wednesday off to come with you to Kyle's service." Emily had called them last night to let them know that arrangements had been made for Kyle. While Garcia and Morgan had been helping them get Savannah settled in, Rossi and JJ had been helping Emily get temporary custody of Jody and setting up the service for Kyle. Catherine nodded and sat down on the bed with Spencer.

"So is it wrong to ask about what Saul and Savannah talked about before he stormed off?"

"She told him what happened over the past week and that she pregnant. He wanted to take her to New York have the baby and live on the East Side and that's not what she wants. She wants to be with Saul, but she knows in her heart that there is no way they can care for this baby now." Spencer took her hand and they sat there for awhile before Catherine started signing again.

"What if they won't give me my job back and if they do how am I supposed to face those kids after this?"

"They have no right to not give your job back since you didn't do anything wrong and those kids are going to need you to be there. They already lost Kyle, they can't lose you too." Spencer sighed the past few nights he had been sleepless for both of them, each dealing with their own nightmares. Catherine scooted closer to him and kissed him.

"I know this might be impossible to do, but can we not think about it anymore? I'm ok and if we keep thinking about it than we're not going to move on. It wasn't your fault and I don't waste another second thinking about Harper Hillman and how she could have hurt us."

"I'm used to getting hurt on the job, it's another when you could have been hurt because of it. I promised to keep you safe and you were almost killed. I don't know what I would do without you or how I would explain to Abby what happened to you if you didn't make it. She looks so much like you it's unreal. I just...I try so hard to keep you and this job apart and it ends up on our doorstep more often than I care to think about and you get hurt every time it happens. I love you and I don't want to lose you."

"I'm still here and I plan on being here for a long time Spencer Reid. I know how you felt seeing me hurt...it's how I felt after you got shot, after you came back from Henkle and too many other times to count. I get through it by telling myself that I need to focus on the fact that I still have you and that's all that really matters. I don't need an eidetic memory when it comes to you. That's how much I love you." Spencer moved closer to her, weaved his hand through her hair and kissed her hard. _I love you more than you will ever know._

…...

The church was standing room only and Emily wasn't surprised at the turn out. Despite being a teacher at Zeller's for a little over two years, he was a very popular teacher. Most of the turn out was his students from Zeller and the students at Columbia. Emily recognized a few of the guys he played drums with and a few of the teachers he worked with. Jody refused to let go of Emily's hand and in a way Emily was relieved to have the comfort even if it was from a six year old who cried herself to sleep every night.

Emily spotted Spencer, Catherine and Savannah coming towards her. It was clear to Emily that Catherine was trying to hold herself in check, her hand was wrapped in Spencer's and she was biting the inside of her cheek. Savannah's eyes were darting around nervously. The news had broken that Savannah's adopted aunt was behind the killings and the girl was clearly worried about how her peers would treat her, even though her father had been killed and her mother almost killed by the same person. She didn't have to worry though, Emily watched another teenage girl come up and hug Savannah.

"How you holding up?" asked JJ. Emily could never thank JJ or Rossi enough for all the help they had given her. JJ had helped her plan the funeral service for Kyle and made all the proper notifications so his students knew they could come. Rossi set her up with one of the best adoption lawyers in DC, Emily had already spoken to a social worker and they were going to do home visits and background checks to make sure she was fit to have Jody since no one else had come to claim her.

"I've had better days," said Emily. JJ got down to Jody's level to talk to her.

"Hi sweetie...do you want me to get you anything? Something to drink?" Jody shook her head no and clung to Emily.

"I think we're ok. We should go take our seat ok?" said Emily. JJ nodded and went to take her seat with Will. Emily sat down in the front row with Jody, the little girl leaned against her and Emily pulled her close. Emily quickly wiped her eyes and turned her attention to the preacher who was talking about how Jesus valued himself as a teacher and how the great teacher knew how to reach a student and that he could see what a great teacher Kyle Thomas Jackson was by the people gathered here today to help remember him for what he was, a great teacher to everyone in his life.

They had an interpreter for the Deaf Students and Catherine was watching him sign about what a great teacher Kyle had been to everyone in his life. Catherine had been asked by JJ to speak and she couldn't. She had tried to come up with something, anything and found that nothing was coming to her. JJ said she understood and that some of the students had come to her wanting to know if they could speak. She felt Spencer's hand in hers and he squeezed it lightly. _How I'm supposed to look these kids in the eyes after this? I agreed to help with the drama program,but this was Kyle's baby and he was the heart of the program. Will the kids even want to continue with the program...will the school even let us? _She knew Kyle would want them to keep going, she just didn't know how.

Their friendship had been built on their love of teaching, of seeing someone go beyond what they thought they could, to see the light come on when they finally got it. Catherine felt the tears start to burn and Spencer's grip got tighter on hers and he rested his head on her head. Spencer knew how she felt, it was the same way he felt after Emily's 'death', it was more than just losing a co-worker, it was losing a friend and a family member.

"If anyone would like to say anything about Kyle. Please come forward and share your thoughts," said the preacher. Catherine wasn't surprised that almost the whole choir got up and went to the front of the church.

"My name is Nickolas and I was one of Mr. Jackson students from Zeller and we were all part of the glee and drama program that he and Mrs. Reid help put together. A lot of people didn't think that it wouldn't work, but Mr. Jackson never gave up on it...he never gave up on us even when we wanted to quit. He just knew that you could always be better than what you thought you could be and you just knew that he would always be there to cheer you on no matter how bad things were. A lot of horrible things were said about Mr. Jackson and none of them were true. Mr. Jackson was a good man and he never hurt anyone. We're going to miss him and..." Nickolas trailed off and his girlfriend Sofia, one of Catherine's students put her hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

"He was a great teacher and he wouldn't want us to be sad," signed Sofia. Nickolas nodded and went on.

"We were working on our senior performances and they were to be dedicated to someone and we asked him who he would dedicated his performance to and what would he sing. He told us that when his daughter was a baby he would sing to sleep and that her favorite song was Stand By Me...this is for both of them."

_When the night has come and the land is dark__/And the moon is the only light we see__/No, I won't be afraid, oh, I won't be afraid__/Just as long as you stand, stand by me.__ So darling, darling, stand by me, oh, stand by me__/Oh, stand, stand by me, stand by me__  
><em>_If the sky that we look upon should tumble and fall__/Or the mountain should crumble to the sea__/I won't cry, I won't cry, no, I won't shed a tear__/Just as long as you stand, stand by me__  
><em>_And darling, darling, stand by me__/Darling, darling, stand by me__/Whenever you're in trouble__/Won't you stand by me, oh, stand by me._

Catherine wiped her eyes and felt Spencer's hand wrapped in hers and she felt Savannah rest her head on her shoulder. _We need to get through this somehow._

…...

"Here you go sweetie," said Emily sitting down a sandwich and some fruit on a plate for Jody.

"Thank you," she said and she poked at the food. A young girl with red hair sat down next to Jody.

"Hi I'm Bailey...I was Mr. Jackson's student assistant. I babysat Jody sometimes...so if you need a sitter I'm free most weekends."

"Thank you," said Emily. If was bizarre to be accepting condolences from so many kids. It hurt to see how lost and sad they were. They had been dealt a blow that even she as an adult was having trouble dealing with.

"Hey...you want to go outside from air?" asked Rossi.

"Um...Jody I'll be right back ok," said Emily. Jody nodded and started talking to Bailey. Emily followed Rossi outside and it was chilly outside, it looked like it was going to snow.

"You're holding up well," said Rossi.

"Was my funeral this packed?" asked Emily.

"The people who mattered were there." Emily just shook her head and looked back inside to where Jody was sitting with Bailey and another teenaged girl.

"They make me feel so old...none of them are going to be same. Jody cries herself to sleep every night and she sleeps in my room."  
>"Someday this will all be a bad memory for all of them and Jody will have you to help her. When do the home visits start?" asked Rossi.<p>

"Next week." Emily shoved her hands into her pockets and shivered. "Your lawyer recommended I get a house with a yard. Something about appearing settled and normal. He knows what we do for a living right?"

"Don't let the man get you down," said Rossi. Emily felt a tap on her back and Jody was looking up at her.

"Can we go home now?" Emily couldn't help but smile at her.

"Yeah. You want take Lilo for a walk before it starts to snow?" Jody nodded and took her hand.

"Ok let's go home," said Emily.


	18. Chapter seventeen

Chapter seventeen

"When will you be coming back?" asked Sofia.

"I don't know. I have to wait for the school to make a decision," signed Catherine. They were at Kyle's wake and so far at least ten different students had come up to the Catherine to ask her when she would be back and they all seemed be upset that she couldn't give them the answer they wanted to hear.

"It's not fair! You didn't do anything wrong!" snapped Nickolas and Sofia tried to calm him down and he ignored her. "It's not fair at all! We already lost Mr. Jackson and now we might lose you too! It's bullshit!" snapped Nickolas out loud and people turned to look at them. Spencer was talking to JJ and Savannah had gone to the restroom.

"Come on outside," signed Catherine taking Nickolas outside. Spencer caught her eye and Catherine just shook her head. She could handle this, it was her job.

"No one wanted to take a chance on anything we wanted to do until you and Mr. Jackson came into the picture and now we might lose all that. It's crap! Don't they know how much you and Mr. Jackson have done for us! I'm going to college because of Mr. Jackson...you're giving Savannah a place to stay...we owe so much to you guys and no one seems to really care and..." Nickolas started crying and Catherine hugged him. Nickolas had looked up to Kyle and their relationship was much like her's was with Savannah so she could only imagine how much this was hurting him.

"It's ok...shush it's ok," said Catherine softly.

"You have to come back...we need you to come back!" signed Nickolas wiping his eyes.

"I promise I will do my best to come back." Nicholas started shivering and Catherine realized it had started to snow. "Come on, lets get back inside."

…...

Spencer watched Catherine standing outside trying to comfort one of the students and the kid crying on Catherine's shoulder.

"It never gets any easier seeing the survivors try to cope with everything," said JJ.

"No it doesn't," agreed Spencer.

"How are things going?"

"We have Savannah settled in and we're going to try to arrange for her to go to college a few weeks late in case she hasn't had the baby yet...just so she can go with a clean slate. Catherine is still waiting for the school to make a decision about her job."

"You know I still have contacts in the DC press...maybe a little prodding is needed," suggested JJ and Spencer shook his head no.

"Catherine wouldn't want the attention or her job back like that. It's just going to take time to get through all the red tape and for more students to complain." JJ looked over to where Savannah was talking with a group of girls and remembered something Garcia had for her.

"Garcia asked me to give you this." She handed Spencer a piece of paper and on it was written an address. "She found where Savannah's father was buried. It's just outside of the District, his AA group raised the money to bury him."

"Thanks JJ." JJ's phone buzzed.

"It's Henry's babysitter...I swear someone coughs and the boy gets a cold. I'll see you back at work. Hang in there." JJ hugged him and went to go find Will so they could head home. Catherine came back inside and went over to him.

"I need to do something...can you take Savannah home when she's ready?" asked Catherine. Spencer gave her a look and Catherine gave him a small smile. "I'll be fine. I'll be home in a little bit. I just need to do this on my own. I'll leave you the car." Catherine couldn't help but notice the furrow of his brow and how he sighed before giving her a kiss on the forehead.

"Ok. I'll see you at home."

"Thank you." Catherine went to get her coat and headed out.

"Where is Mrs...Catherine going?" asked Savannah. Spencer couldn't help but smile a little, she would still slip and call Catherine Mrs. Reid or him Dr. Reid.

"She said she had an errand to run. You ok?"

"Everyone is being nice so far...even though..." Savannah shook her head. "I think I'm ready to go home."

"Ok." They headed out and Spencer got the car and turned the heat up full blast in the car. Savannah pulled her coat around her and slumped down in the seat.

"I didn't think they would be so nice to me...considering..." Spencer cut her off.

"Considering none of this was your fault and you lost just has much as they did." The drove in silence for a few blocks before Spencer spoke up again. "You asked me to find where they buried your father. We found him." Savannah looked at him stunned. "Do you want to see him." She stayed quite, but nodded yes.

"Ok," said Spencer and the pulled out the address JJ had given him and started driving there.

…...

Her mother was sitting up in her hospital bed eating her lunch when Catherine came in. Megan looked at her stunned and Catherine couldn't help but stand up a little straighter and she forced herself to swallow the lump in her throat. She had needed to come here and try to understand this woman that was her mother and hadn't seen or spoken to her since she was a child.

"Hello mom," said Catherine softly. Megan pushed the tray out of her way and looked at her daughter.

"Hello Catherine," she signed.

"When did you learn to Sign?" asked Catherine speaking slowly so that way she understood her.

"A few years ago. You got over your talking phobia?" asked Megan and Catherine felt her face go red.

"I wouldn't of had a 'phobia' if people would have been more understanding...especially if my own mother had been more understanding," snapped Catherine and Megan bowed her head in shame.

"I'm sorry. That was a poor choice of words. You look like your grandmother...she was so pretty at your age too." Catherine didn't say anything and Megan went on. "Abby looks like you when you were little." Catherine bit the inside of her cheek. "She has your eyes."

"Why are you here? You left me when I was a few months older than Abby and when you came back it was to be mean to me and now twenty two years later you just come back for what reason?" asked Catherine. Megan hung her head again.

"Please understand Catherine that I wasn't in a good place to be a mother...I couldn't look at you without being reminded of what a terrible person I was. I didn't know how to cope with what I had done to you...or what I could have done to you."

"So what you just walk out on an infant and than belittle a seven year old for something you did? How is that fair?"

"It wasn't fair and I know that and I'm just sorry that I missed it all."

"You chose to miss it all. Why are you here now?"

"I just wanted to see you...I wanted to know that you were ok and that you were happy. You're happy right?"

"Yes I am."

"Please try to understand I didn't mean to hurt you...not at first, but than I was just so angry that I had ruined you and your future. I didn't know how to deal with it...you turned out to be such an amazing person." Catherine sighed.

"How did you think I was going to turn out?"

"I don't know...I thought the worst that you would be slow and need someone to look after you and that you would never be happy. I almost killed you before you born and the doctors told me that your hearing was gone and who knows what other damage I could have done. I couldn't stay and see it though." Catherine balled her hands up. She was trying to feel something, anything for the person in front of her and all she felt was sad. Her mother couldn't be there for her the way she was for her students, her daughter and her family. _She quit on me..._

"When Spencer and I decided to have children we knew that there would be risks because of our genetics and even knowing that we would never leave our children or be so cruel to them. I love Abby even though I know I'm the reason she's Deaf and I know that Spencer would love her even if he passed on something to her. We love her because she's our child and no matter what we will always love her and I could never treat her the way you treated me. I can understand part of it was because you were drinking, but not all of it. I've seen the man I love struggle with addiction first hand and I know how hard it was for him...he quit because of the people he loved and he stays clean for that reason. You chose to not be in my life for almost twenty nine years and now I'm choosing to keep it that way. If you can't stay for the bad than I don't see why you should be here for the good. I have my family and they love me regardless of who I am or what I could have been. I'm sorry, but I feel this is for the best for now. I hope you understand that this isn't because I hate you or I'm angry...I don't know how I'm supposed to feel about you. I don't know if that will ever change" Megan nodded and she quickly wiped her eyes. She had a feeling that this would be Catherine's decision, she couldn't blame her for not wanting to have a relationship with her, it had been Megan's own decision when she was a baby to not be in her life.

"Your strong like your grandmother too. " Megan reached over info a drawer and pulled out a small charm bracelet and handed it her. "You forgot this when I saw you last. Good bye Catherine."

"Good bye...mom..." Catherine signed the last sentence and walked out of the room. She headed outside and it had finally started to snow. She walked over to the Metro station and caught a train back home. _ I have my family...Spencer, Abby, Savannah, the BAU gang even my students...they are my family regardless of what happens I know they'll be there for me and they have always been there for me. _Catherine got off the train and collected Abby from Mrs. Fritz their downstairs neighbor and took her upstairs. She placed Abby in her walker and watched the baby play and drool on her toys happily. Catherine brushed back the baby's hair, it was getting long and was wavy like Spencer's when it got long.

"I love you," signed Catherine and she watched Abby wave her hands, trying to copy the movements.

…...

The snow was starting to fall by the time Spencer and Savannah reached the cemetery and started walking towards the grave. Savannah had shoved her hands deep into her pockets and her face was stoic. After a ten minute walk they found Daniel's grave. The sod was down, but no grass or flowers where there. The tombstone was plain and read: _Daniel Joesph Conelly-Born March 13__th__ 1976 Died January 21__st__ 2012. _ Savannah looked at the tombstone and she started crying. Spencer wrapped an arm around her and she quickly wiped her eyes and looked at tombstone.

"Have you ever been mad at a dead person?"

"I was mad at my father for years after he left. It's ok to be mad at him...but sooner or later you have to not let it affect you. I know it sounds hard, but it hurts you more in the long run." Savannah sighed and shoved her hands deeper into her pockets.

"I just don't understand why they let themselves be so unhappy...they were never happy together and they had to go and make other people unhappy just to feel something. I know Saul is mad at me because I told him no about getting married and having the baby. It's not that I don't love Saul...I do...I we're not ready to give this baby a good life and I just don't want us to be my parents and I know that we're not ready for...to be forever. "

"No one is ever ready for forever," said Spencer. Savannah let out a small laugh and shivered.

"Come on...let's go home," said Spencer. They headed back to the car and he got a text from Catherine that she was home with Abby.

"How did you know that Catherine was forever?" asked Savannah.

"I just couldn't imagine her not being there," admitted Spencer. The drive home took a little longer than normal due to the snow, but when they got home Catherine was sitting on sofa holding Abby with Leo, the Principal of Columbia sitting across from her.

"Well I think I've overstayed my welcome. I'll see on Monday, Catherine. Dr. Reid...Savannah have a nice evening." Leo let himself out and Spencer gave her a look.

"I take it you got good news." Catherine couldn't help but smile.

"Well I got my job back so that's good news." Savannah hugged her.

"That's great news." Savannah's phone rang and she saw that it was Saul calling. "Excuse me." She went into her room and Spencer gave her a look.

"Do you mind me asking what your errand was about?" Catherine adjusted Abby on her lap.

"I went to go see my mother...I don't think I'm going to see her again...at least for now. It's not like how it was with your dad...you at least felt something towards him and I just don't know what I feel towards her and she doesn't feel like family. Do you understand." Spencer sat down with her and took her hand.

"I've always supported any decision you've ever made. This is about you and what you feel is right." Catherine sat Abby back down on the floor so she could make dinner and Spencer sat down on the floor with Abby to keep her distracted. Savannah got off the phone an hour later and had dinner with them. She didn't say what they talk about, but she seemed to be ok. She went into her room afterward to do her homework.

"I hope they patch things up," signed Catherine has she sat down to feed Abby.

"I think that they just need to understand that things aren't always going to be easy," signed Spencer. Catherine just shook her head and turned her attention to Abby. Spencer settled in with a book and read until they both went to bed.

Savannah sat in her room and looked at the sonogram that had been taken at the hospital. It was so weird to think that she had _that _inside her. After she hung up with Saul, she knew that she was making the right decision and she hoped that one day Saul would see it too. She turned off the light and settled into bed. She just knew that this would the best thing she could ever do for this baby was to give it to people who could give it a better life. She had only been here a week and already Catherine and Spencer had gone out of their way to make sure she was taken care of, from making sure she had a doctor to making sure she would be able to go to college. _My own family didn't help me this much. I can never thank them enough and I hope they understand why I want this._

_"Saul we can't take care of this baby...you can barely afford textbooks. I'm going to have to work all summer to make up what my scholarship won't cover. This has nothing to do with how we feel about each other. This is what is best for it."_

_ "So you think the best is just to give it away to strangers and never see it again!" snapped Saul._

_ "We can have an open adoption so we can see it and I don't want it to go to strangers."_

_ "So who then...my mom or my sister?"_

_ "I wanna ask Catherine and Spencer to adopt our baby."_

Love it, Hate it, Review it please. Thanks for all the adds and reviews.


	19. Chapter eighteen

Chapter eighteen

_Two months later_

"It's close to several good private schools, a park... I would even have my own backyard," said Emily.

"It's a Row House in Dupont Circle it better have some nice schools," teased JJ.

"I just can't believe I'm doing it. I mean...it would be nice to not have neighbors who complain about all the noise the dog makes and to just be able to put her outside and not have to walk six blocks with her in the middle of the night and than worry about Jody waking up and being scared. It's probably not going to work. I bid way under the asking price and the house already has five sealed bids," groaned Emily.

"Sounds like someone doesn't want it to work out," teased JJ.

"Orthophobia, fear of owning personal property," said Spencer picking up the case file and heading upstairs.

"No I don't have a fear of owning stuff! Turn me loose in shoe store and I'll prove you wrong. My fear is personal property that weighs three-hundred tons!" protested Emily.

"Actually depending on materials used and the build of the house it only weighs 60 tons," countered Spencer.

"How does Catherine win arguments with him?" asked Emily.

"We don't fight," said Spencer.

"I believe it's because Spencer doesn't want to bite the hand that feeds him, does his laundry and gave birth to his child," said Garcia.

"Ah," said Emily grinning. All traces of good humor when they went into the round table room to discuss the latest case that had them heading to Oklahoma to stop a copy cat killer.

"Wheels up in thirty," said Hotch. They headed out and Spencer started texting Catherine that he would have to leave town.

_Sorry I'm going to have to miss the concert tomorrow. I would wish you and the choir luck, but luck is for those without skill. _Catherine's choir was going to compete at a national concert tomorrow morning and she had to work twice has hard to get the kids ready to go to this competition and the kids pushed themselves just as hard to prove they should be there and that they wanted to win.

"So is Jody doing any better?" asked JJ.

"Yeah, she only had one nightmare this week and she seems to be doing ok staying with my friend Gina when I have to leave town. I think she's starting to get used to how things are now. We even got Lilo potty trained so progress is being made," said Emily. "How is Savannah doing with the interviews?" Spencer shook his head, they had been going on interviews with Savannah to meet with potential families about adopting the baby and they had all gone the same with Savannah not wanting to meet with them again.

"We've had about three interviews so far and she didn't seem to care for any or them. The first two did give off a vibe about not being sure of how to deal with a child who might be Deaf, but the third family seemed to be nice and already had two children with special needs so they seemed promising, but Savannah didn't want to set up another interview. I think we're supposed to have one next month. She just seems really unsure each time we go to an interview...I'm starting to think that she might be having second thoughts about giving the baby up now."

"Well I can't imagine what it must be like to try to figure out if this is the best family for her child. It's a lot of pressure," said JJ. They parked the SVU and headed to the jet, for the time being all other issues would have to wait until they got home.

…...

"Ok...tomorrow morning we all meet here by eight am, we are on the bus by eight thirty and by nine thirty if your butt is not in our dressing room at the theater to get dressed and go over our set before the concert starts at ten-thirty I know someone who will hack your Facebook pages and put the most embarrassing pictures I can find of you on your profile," signed Catherine and it was spoken to the group by Laura. Laura had been filling in to help Catherine until Zeller's found a replacement for Kyle, they had turned his class into a study hall, but the kids still came here after school for choir practice.

They seemed even more determined to win than before and Catherine wanted it for them. They seemed to be channeling all their feelings about losing Kyle into their performances and it showed in how hard they had been pushing themselves. They had been selected to compete at a National show before Kyle's death and they still wanted to go and Catherine had made sure they were able to compete even after all the bad PR the school had received due to the false accusations against Kyle and his death. Hotch, JJ and the school had made it a point to work tirelessly to clear Kyle's name with the community. It had worked for the most part, but has her father used to say people remember the bad things about you before they remember the good and at least three parents had pulled their kids from Zeller siting their concern about the accusations.

"Don't worry we'll be here," signed Sofia.

"We're going to kick so much ass that no one will no what happened!" said/signed Nickolas.

"Ok guys, go home and get some rest. You're going to need it for tomorrow," signed Catherine. The kids grabbed up their stuff and headed out. Savannah picked up her stuff and went up to Catherine.

"I'm going to do one more check of the costumes before we go," she signed and headed to the back. Laura went to pick up her stuff and looked at Catherine.

"You gonna hack my Facebook page if I'm late tomorrow morning," teased Laura.

"Never," laughed Catherine.

"I really think they're going to win Cat. I have seen them do that set at least six times and I can't take my eyes off them. You and Kyle did an amazing job with them and you should be proud of that."

"I just wish he was here to see them win this." Catherine felt her phone buzz in her pocket and it was a text from Spencer. He had gotten a case and had to leave town and he was sure that he wouldn't be back tomorrow to see the concert. _I would wish you and the choir luck, but luck is for those without skill. _Catherine grinned and put her phone away.

"I take it the good doctor has been called away to fight crime?" asked Laura.

"Yeah. This just means I'll have to bring Abby with me tomorrow morning. My former downstairs sitter moved to Florida last month."

"So any luck with Savannah and the interviews?"

"We have one next month and we're still screening profiles online. I think she might have changed her mind about giving up the baby. She just seems really unsure about the whole adoption thing now. I just want her to be happy."

"Wow not even thirty and already a grandma. I'll see you tomorrow," signed Laura leaving the auditorium. Catherine headed backstage and saw that Savannah was double checking to make sure all the costumes were hanging up and labeled.

"You ready to go?"asked Catherine. Savannah nodded and picked up her stuff. They headed across campus so Catherine could pick up Abby.

"Can we have some mashed potatoes with dinner?" asked Savannah. Catherine looked at her and fought the urge to grin.

"Craving?"

"God it's all I've thought about all day and it's driving me crazy. I just want a big pot of mashed potatoes with butter and pepper."

"I wanted popcorn and peanut butter cups all the time with Abby," signed Catherine. They headed into the daycare and into Abby's class room. The six month old was sitting on the floor playing with some blocks. Catherine bent down and tapped the baby on her shoulder. She turned around and her face broke into a big toothless smile. She started waving her hands up and down and Catherine picked her up.

"You act like you miss me or something," teased Catherine. Abby simply grinned at her mother and started signing 'ma' at her. She was getting much better at signing. "Let's go home." Catherine collected the diaper bag and stroller from one of the teachers and the three headed to the Metro station.

"So Spencer got a case and he won't be home this evening and he doesn't think he'll be home for the concert in the morning," signed Catherine.

"Oh that sucks. I know he wanted to see it." They boarded the train and talked about their day. It was the new normal and it seemed to be going well. Alexa hadn't contacted Savannah since she had moved in with them and now that she eighteen Alexa really couldn't say or do anything. The young girl adjusted herself in the seat and Catherine couldn't help, but notice the start of a baby bump. A few of the kids knew she was pregnant and so far they seemed to be treating her fairly. Catherine had gone with Savannah to her last appointment and so far her pregnancy seemed to look normal. Saul really hadn't spoken to her since she told him she wanted to give the baby up and Catherine knew she was hurt by him ending their relationship, but has she told Catherine and Spencer she needed space from him for now. Saul's mother Elisa was understanding and had asked them to keep her updated on Savannah.

They got off the train and headed home. Savannah sat down at the kitchen table to do her homework and Catherine sat Abby in her chair and handed her a toy.

"So I got an e-mail from the agency this afternoon and they think they might have found another family you might want to interview," signed Catherine when they sat down for dinner. Savannah poked at her potatoes and she got this look on her face that Catherine couldn't read. _Where is the profiler when I need him?_

"I...I'll look it at later."

"You don't mind me asking if something is bothering you about this? If you've changed your mind."

"No...no I haven't changed my mind." Savannah sat her fork down and took a deep breath. "I was going to wait for Spencer to come home, but I can just never work up the nerve and when I do he gets called in so I can't talk to the both of you at the same time. The reason I haven't wanted to set up any follow up meetings with the families is because...because they aren't you guys. I know that you and Spencer have done so much for me and I know this is asking a lot, but I really want you two to adopt the baby." Catherine's mind went blank and Savannah just stared at the table for what felt like forever between the two of them.

"I don't know what to say to that right now...I guess I'm flattered that you think so highly of me and Spencer that you would want us to raise your baby. But, this is something that Spencer and I are really going to have to think about," signed Catherine.

"Are you guys not wanting more kids?" asked Savannah nervously.

"No it's not that. It's just that...if we do say yes it changes our relationship. I know you've been on the fence about having an open adoption and if we agree to adopt the baby it means that we might have to go out separate ways and this is going to come off has cheesy, but I think of you like the little sister I never got have and I would miss you," signed Catherine. Savannah nodded and wiped her eyes quickly.

"You will think about it though? I know this asking a lot, but you two are easily the best parents I've ever met and I've seen how good you and Spencer are with Abby and I know that no matter what you'll be there to love it."

"I'll talk to Spencer when he gets home, but we'll need some time to think about it. Ok?" Savannah nodded and Abby took that moment to toss her plate on the floor breaking the tension and causing both of them to laugh. Catherine cleaned up the mess and took the baby out of the chair.

"Always more food on you than in you. I'm gonna get her cleaned up. Finish those potatoes," teased Catherine taking Abby into the bathroom. Savannah took another bite of her potatoes and smiled to herself. _If I ever have kids after this I hope to be the kind of mother you are._

Catherine took Abby into the bathroom and shut the door, she was still slightly in shock. _She wants us to raise her baby...us...oh my god._ Catherine started running a bath for Abby and she sat down on the floor with her to get her undressed for her bath.

She and Spencer had talked about having more children after Abby was born. She was split about how she felt about this right now. She wasn't against having another baby so soon now. Abby would be almost a year when Savannah had hers so they would be close in age, but there were times when Spencer had cases that took him away for weeks at time and she felt a little overwhelmed trying to care for a baby alone, she could only imagine what it would be like to have two to care for. She got Abby in the tub and started trying to get mashed potato out of her hair and kept thinking.

_What if they were to change their minds and we would have to give the baby back?_Catherine knew from Savannah that Saul wanted to keep the baby and was upset that she wanted to give it up. Saul had rights has a father and at the end of the day he could act on those rights and take the baby away. No matter how much her and Spencer could or might love this child, it was up to Savannah and Saul to let them have it. _How can we have another baby and worry that someone could take it away just because of some legal issues?_ _We'll have to tell them about our medical history._ Catherine knew Spencer was still worried at times about getting his mother's illness and they would have to tell Savannah everything, not to mention they would have to prove to a court and social services that they were fit to raise a child other than their own.

Catherine got Abby out of the tub and dried her off, the baby smiled at her and Catherine gave her a hug and ran a hand though her damp hair that was so much like her father's in the way it curled and in texture. It was this that gave Catherine another thought. _If we do this and we adopt this child...do we tell them everything when they are old enough to understand, do we tell them at all...what do we do if they find out anyway?_

…...

"Wow six seconds that's the quickest case of buyer remorse I've ever seen," teased Rossi. Emily had just gotten news from Garcia that she had gotten the house she wanted. A bit of good news to make the trip home a little better since the case was closed and they had saved the Un-sub's last victim, Helen. The wife of the serial killer who the Un-sub had been copying.

"I say the moment we land we go to Ziggy's and clear out the champagne inventory," said Morgan.

"And talk Emily off the ledge," teased JJ seeing how sick Emily looked.

"I don't feel good," whined Emily.

"It's just a house," teased Rossi. "I have three to worry about."

"Oh I was having the best dream, I was at an exclusive salon getting my hair done," said JJ.

"The therapeutic benefit of dreams, purging unpleasant images and replacing them with good ones," said Spencer and JJ rolled her eyes.

"Unpleasant is a nice way of putting it. If someone put a bloody wig on my head I would have ripped that thing off and kept it off," said JJ toying with her own hair without thought.

"That would be my gut instinct," said Morgan.

"Hey Rossi, what did Helen mean when she said 'Daddy was right?'" asked JJ.

"Her father told her that she was a divining rod for the evil in men. That she could sniff it out when nobody else could."

"There was something strange about her," agreed Emily.

"One woman involved with two serial killers is rare," said Hotch.

"What are the odds?" asked JJ.

"Astronomical...if you discount serial killer groupies..." started Spencer and Hotch elbowed him.

"Sorry I asked," muttered JJ. Spencer went back to his seat when his phone chimed and it was a text from Savannah that the glee club was getting ready to perform their set.

_I can stream it to you if you're not working._ Spencer sent Savannah a text back that the case was closed and he was on the plane home now.

_Ok...hold on._ A video link popped up on his Smartphone and Emily noticed a small smile on Spencer's face as she got up to get some coffee.

"Did you get some good news?" teased Emily.

"Catherine's students are about to go on stage. Savannah's sending me a video of the performance." Emily sat down next to him.

"Mind if I watch? I've never got to see them perform." Spencer adjusted the phone and clicked on the link Savannah had sent him. It was a little grainy and far away from the stage, but he was able to see the kids on stage. The music started and the group of eleven started singing and signing together.

_Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes__/Five hundred twenty-five thousand moments so dear__/Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes__/How do you measure, measure a year?__  
><em>_In daylights, in sunsets__/In midnights, in cups of coffee__/In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife__/ In five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes__/How do you measure, a year in the life?__  
><em>_How about love?__How about love?__How about love?__Measure in love__/Seasons of love__/Seasons of love__  
><em>_Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes__/Five hundred twenty-five thousand journeys to plan__/__Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes__/How do you measure the life of a woman or a man?__  
><em>_In truths that she learned__/Or in times that he cried__/I__n bridges he burned__/Or the way that she died/__ It's time now, to sing out__/Though the story never ends__/Let's celebrate__/Remember a year in the life of friends_

"They are really good," said Emily.

"Catherine and Kyle put a lot of their time into making them work together as a team," said Spencer. Emily nodded and watched the girls perform _Starry Eyed,_ by Elle Goulding and than the group got back together to sing _Born to Run_, by Springsteen. They got a standing ovation and Spencer couldn't help but feel that hint of pride in his wife and the work she had done with these children.

"So how do you really feel about the house?" asked Spencer.

"It will be good for Jody to have a real home again. Something more stable where she can play with Lilo and run around and I won't have to hear the people downstairs complain that a dog is barking or she's running around and being a six year old."

"So far our neighbors have been ok with the Abby, thankfully she's not much of a crier. I'm hoping they stay that way when she starts walking," said Spencer.

"I've met some other people looking into adopting babies during my homestudy classes. If you want I can see if they would like to meet with Savannah."

"I'm starting to think that she might have changed her mind about giving the baby up. Maybe staying with me and Catherine has given her a new perspective on what a good family life is and she knows that she and Saul could be good parents if they give it a chance."

"Maybe she's hoping you and Cat will adopt the baby," teased Emily and Spencer gave her a look. "Just kidding even though you two are the closest thing she's had to parents in a long time." Spencer just gave Emily another look and she went back to her seat. Spencer pulled out a book and tried to read, but Emily's comment about he and Catherine adopting the baby was bouncing around in his head like a pin ball. To be honest it was something he hadn't considered, but now that Emily had brought it up it made sense now why Savannah seemed so unsure each time they went to meet with each new family. _Nothing will live up to her expections now that she's seen that Catherine and I as a __family unit. _

"Hey you want to get off the plane with the rest of us or do you plan to wait here for our next case," teased JJ. Spencer hadn't realized the plane had landed and that JJ was standing next to him.

"Oh...yeah...must of have spaced out." Spencer gathered up his stuff and followed JJ off the plane. He got into the SUV with Emily and JJ and felt his phone buzz again and it was Catherine texting him.

_Hey Savannah told me you were on your way home. We're just waiting for the last group to go and than the groups get judged. I'll meet you back at the apartment._

_ Sounds good._

…_..._

"Guys it's ok," consoled Catherine. They were back in their choir room and Nicole couldn't stop crying and the guys looked ready to murder something. They had come in second place, behind a school from California who had fire batons in their act.

"It's crap. Their act sucked!" protested Nicholas.

"I will not have you act like a bunch of sore losers! You guys are a first year show choir and placed second in the whole nation. That is such a huge accomplishment and you guys should be proud of yourself. Did I want to win too? I did, I really did, but I am still so proud of all of you. You got up there and showed them how amazing you are and if they couldn't see that than we come back next year and we show them that we are better. Mr. Jackson would tell you the same thing if he was here. I want you all to know that even though we only placed second that in my eyes you won. No one thought we could do this and we did! We proved them wrong on a national stage and no one can take that away," said/signed Catherine. The trophy sat on a table and Catherine looked at it. "I can always just throw this out."

"Oh hell no," signed Sofia and all the kids started laughing. "Thanks for the pep talk...we need it. We can go back next year and I say we add gymnastics to the act." Sofia got up and looked at trophy. "So where is this going? Zeller or here?"

"I think it should go in Mr. Jackson's choir room," said/signed Catherine and she handed the trophy to Nicholas. "He would have loved to seen you guys today this is his." He took the trophy from her and gave her a hug.

"Thank you...we can do this next year?"

"As long as this group wants I'll be here."

"We want to do this again," said Nicole and it was signed to her by Savannah. Abby started fussing her stroller and Savannah couldn't get her to calm down.

"I think someone needs a nap," said Nicole and she gesturing to the stroller. Catherine took the baby from Savannah and realized that the she needed to feed the baby.

"Ok guys...I have to skip the after party and play mom for a little bit. I'll see you on Monday." The kids filed out the room happily. Catherine adjusted Abby in her arms to calm her down.

"I'm going to go get pizza with the rest of gang...that way you and Spencer can talk about...you know," said/signed Savannah.

"Ok...just remember what I told you." Savannah nodded and she headed out with the group. Catherine took a bottle out of the diaper bag, gave it to Abby and placed her back in the stroller. Abby took her bottle and started eating. Catherine kissed the baby on her head and headed to her car.

When she got home, Spencer was already there dozing in a chair. Catherine sat Abby down on the floor and she pushed herself up on her hands and knees and started wiggling back and forth on the floor. Abby had been trying to crawl the past few weeks and she was starting to get more active about it. Spencer opened one eye as Catherine got on the floor with Abby, she helped her stand and Abby started trying to bounce up and down in her arms. _I can sleep later._ He got up and sat down on the floor with her. Catherine looked over at him and grinned. Abby looked over at him and it seemed like her smile got bigger. She waved her arms at him and Catherine handed her over to him.

"I missed you both," signed Spencer giving Catherine a kiss on the forehead. Abby started trying to bounce up and down in his arms and something about her laugh just put him at ease. He put her down and scooted away from her a bit.

"Come here...you can do it," signed/said Spencer to Abby. She got back on her hands and knees and wiggled back and forth, but it seemed forward motion wasn't going to happen yet. Catherine just shook her head and picked Abby back up and put her in the walker.

"Just give her time, she'll crawl when she's ready."

"How did the competition go?" asked Spencer.

"We placed second. I had to talk a bunch of teenagers off the ledge they were that disappointed in how they placed. I told them next year we would win for sure," signed Catherine. She looked at Abby and Spencer saw that she had this far away look in her eye that he couldn't read.

"Are you ok? You seemed distracted," signed Spencer. Catherine sighed and took a deep breath.

"Um...Savannah and I had a talk about what she wants to do with the baby and..." Spencer cut her off.

"She wants us to adopt the baby," finished Spencer and Catherine looked at him stunned.

"When did she talk to you?" asked Catherine.

"It wasn't her...Emily made a remark about Savannah's hesitation to meet with other familes was because she wanted us to adopt the baby. It makes sense now that I think about it. We're like family to her and she would want her baby with family...people she knows she can trust. What do you think?"

"It never really crossed my mind that she would want us to have the baby. I don't know Spencer...I mean this is a lot to consider. I mean I know we've talked about having more children and I do want more but, we would have two children under the age of two. Saul would still have to agree to sign off to let us have the baby and not to mention the fact we have to prove to people that we can do this. What if they tell us no and than what...where does the baby go than? I guess right now that's what worries me the most...someone telling us no. What if someone says we're not good enough to have this baby?" signed Catherine. Spencer gave her a look and hugged her.

"You are an amazing mother and anyone who doesn't see that has to be the most idiotic person in the world. Catherine. you do a wonderful job with Abby and over half the time you do this by yourself and I know you will do the same with this baby." Catherine wiped her eyes quickly and looked over to Abby who was trying to get her footing so she could move forward.

"I think you help out more than you know," signed Catherine. Abby found her footing and starting pushing her way towards them.

"If I'm lucky I'm home for two weeks in a row. I'm surprised that she's always happy to see me," signed Spencer. Abby made it them and she looked up at Spencer with a big toothless grin.

"Because she loves you. We still need to really think this through. It's a big change to consider. We have to think about what this is going to mean for us...part of me really wants this though. What about you?" Spencer kissed her again and looked back at Abby and she had grabbed his pant leg and was standing on her toes.

"I think I want to do this. I know it sounds like I'm rushing into this, but something about it just feels right. Like this is what we're supposed to do and I can't explain it." Spencer picked up Abby up and she just looked up at him and was making happy sounds and trying to sign 'Da' at him. _Catherine tought her more Sign. _Catherine looked at her husband and daughter and couldn't help but feel an overwhelming love for both of them.

"I'm in if your in," said Catherine quickly. Spencer adjusted Abby in his arms and smiled at Catherine.

"It's going to be ok...I promise."

Ep used-Diving Rod.

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	20. Chapter nineteen

Chapter nineteen.

"Is there nothing you're not good at," teased Savannah. They were sitting on sofa together and she was watching him knit a scarf.

"I'm not a very cook," said Spencer finishing up a row and starting a new one. Savannah shook her head and finished up her homework. Catherine was at meeting and Spencer had picked up Abby when he got off work and she was sitting on the floor next him playing with a ball of yarn he had given her. So far she had managed to unreval about half of it, was drooling on it and was muttering to herself and occasionally giggling when the ball rolled away and he gave it back to her.

"Anything else," teased Savannah.

"I couldn't learn Korean." Spencer sat his knitting down and picked Abby up. "I just didn't care for it. The food also didn't agree with me. Yeah...daddy and mommy got food poisoning from the Korean resturant when they were dating and it was the worst weekend ever," said/signed Spencer and Abby just looked at him and giggled at the look on his face.

"Everything is funny to you," said/signed Spencer. He heard the door open and Catherine was walking in with a bag of takeout. He sat Abby down and walked over to her.

"How it go?" he asked. Catherine gave him a tired smile.

"Budget cuts mean I won't be teaching summer school, but I can always do private tutoring off the books or help professors on campus but, I got the ok for all the choir students to go to New York and see the play next weekend." After placing second they had gotten an invitation from another school for Deaf and hearing impaired in New York to come and see a special performance of _Book of Mormon _with them. At first the schools weren't going to let them go since Catherine was the only teacher free to take them, after some last minute fishing around two other teachers from Zeller and Laura agreed to come with the group.

"I could always sneak you in...I'm sure we could find a sitter for Abby. Garica would spoil her rotten," teased Catherine. Spencer gave her a look. He loved Catherine, but his love for her was not enough for him to sit through a musical about Mormons written by the creators of South Park. Plus he already made plans with Garica.

"I love you, but I already promised Garica that we were going to the Sci-fi Con and I've got a costume already made and Garica has one for Abby." Now it was Catherine giving him a look.

"Please tell me that she won't be dyeing her hair or bejeweling her or putting a tone of make up on her. I love Penny, but she's like a make up person from the Capitol and...Oh my god," Catherine said the last three words. Spencer turned around to see what Catherine was looking at and Abby had crawled over to them. Savannah just smirked.

"I was waiting for you to notice. I didn't want to spoil the surprise," said/signed Savannah. Abby had crawled over to Catherine and was grabbing at her legs. Catherine picked her up and gave her hug.

"I love you...that was so good. Thank you for waiting till we were both home," signed Catherine giving her a kiss on the head. Spencer just shook his head.

"I guess this means I should move stuff off the floor and away from her eye level...I've dreaded this day," said/signed Spencer. Catherine gave him another look.

"You wanted to wrap the apartment in bubble wrap when we brought her home. You already have stuff picked up so don't act like it's going to be a huge chore. Let's eat," Catherine handed him the fast food bag and headed into the kitchen. Savannah just grinned and followed Catherine into the kitchen.

"So I called Elisa and she said that she called Saul and he's supposed to be home this weekend and that we should go over and talk things over," said/signed Savannah. Catherine nodded, she and Spencer had gone last week to talk to Elisa about them adopting the baby and she was for it.

"If things were different I would offer to take the baby, but right now my mother is...she's sick and honestly...I've raised my children and I don't think I have it in me to try and raise another baby at my age. At least this way I know in my heart I can trust the people with my grand child." They promised Elisa that she was more than welcome to come and see the baby anytime she wanted and she told them she looked forward to not only having one grandchild enter her life, but two because of Abby.

"She said that she's been talking to Saul about his and she thinks he might be coming around. He's always been stubborn though, he wouldn't quit until I went on a date with him. I just hope he comes around." Catherine gave her a hug.

"This is just hard for him. He does love you and he's scared of losing you. It's going to be ok, he just needs time."

"I hope you're right."

…...

_If someone had told me my Friday nights would be spent with a six year going to pick up pizza and re-watch Ponyo I wouldn't have believed it,"_ thought Emily looking down at Jody. The little girl was holding on to her hand and watching the guy behind the counter toss dough.

"So did you have a good day?" asked Emily paying for their pizza. Jody shrugged and they got back in the car and headed towards home.

"Lilly's having a sleepover tonight and I wasn't invited," said Jody sadly looking at the window. Emily sighed.

"I'm sorry honey...Lilly sounds like meanie. How about we have a sleepover with some of your friends and not invite her?" suggested Emily. _Wow I'm stooping to a child's level. _Jody just shook her head.

"They all treat me different now." The drive home wasn't to far away and when Emily parked she turned around and looked at Jody.

"They just don't understand and I don't want you to think that it's because of you ok. I know what's it's like to not have your friends be nice to you. They just need time to understand that you are still same ok. And if not...than they are a bunch of poop heads ok," teased Emily. Jody gave her a smile and they went inside. They went inside the building and Jody was talking about how they were going to have a field day in few weeks for the end of school and that she wanted Emily to go with her while they waited for the elevator when an older man poked his head out of his apartment and glared at them.

"Can you please keep it down out here!" Jody ducked her head and got on the elevator, Emily shot the man a dirty look and got on the elevator with Jody.

"I'm sorry," said Jody.

"You don't have to be sorry, honey. He's just a cranky old man." The went into the apartment and were greeted by Lilo jumping off the sofa and she ran over to Jody.

"Hi!" Jody started petting Lilo.

"Go wash your hands before dinner ok," said Emily taking the pizza into the kitchen. She dumped some food into the dog's dish and started plating dinner for her and Jody. Her land line started ringing and she reached over to get it.

"Hello."

"Hi, Emily. This is Amanda Recce and I'm with the building association. How are you?"

"Fine," said Emily who was leery of where this call was going.

"Well I'm just calling to ask if it would be possible if maybe you and your daughter could try to be a little quieter when you enter and exit the building. It's distrubing some of our tenents." Emily fought the urge to start swearing. She missed her old apartment the neighbors were much nicer, however this was the best JJ could get her after she came back. She hadn't paid attention much to the neighbors since moving in, but they seemed to pay a lot of attention to her.

"I'm terribly sorry that a six year old is acting like a six year old and wants to talk to me when we get home at the end of the day. I suggest you tell your tentents that if I want to have a conversation with my child I will do anywhere I please and tell them that in a few short weeks they won't have to deal with any of us since we're moving. Have a wonderful day," said Emily hanging up the phone. _Your __daughter...my child._ It was still a bit surreal to Emily at times that for almost all intents and purposes Jody was her child now. Emily had always wanted children and for the longest time it didn't seem to be in the cards for her. _I could have had one if I hadn't been so scared. _She took their pizza into the living room where Jody had already put in the movie. They had their dinner and popcorn with the movie.

"Emily can I ask you question?" asked Jody her tone very serious.

"Of course sweetie what is it?"

"When we move that means I have to go to a new school and they won't know what happened to my daddy?"

"I think so."

"And if I call you Emily they'll think it's weird so would it be ok if I said you were my mommy." Emily was momentarily stunned and she took a sip of her water. It was clear to Emily that Jody had been thinking about this for some time now and had given it serious thought for a six year old. _This clearly means a lot to her...she's never had a mother before now._

"You can call me anything you want honey. If you want to say I'm your mommy I'm ok with that." Emily kissed her on the forehead and they finished watching the movie together. Emily looked down at Jody and she had fallen asleep and she couldn't help but smile at the little girl. Emily picked her up and carried her into her room. Jody stirred in her arms.

"What?" muttered Jody.

"It's time to go sleep," said Emily. She sat Jody down on her bed and helped her into a pair of pajamas and tucked her in.

"Night honey," said Emily.

"Night mommy," muttered Jody rolling over in her sleep. Emily smiled again and left Jody's room. She started picking up their dishes when her land line rang again. _Can't even do dishes without them bitching._ Emily picked up the line land.

"Hello," she snapped.

"Hi...I'm sorry to trouble you, but I was looking for Emily Prentiss," said the female voice on the other end.

"This is."

"My name is Kristen Manore. I'm the new case worker for Jody Jackson. She is still in your care that this time is that correct?"

"She is," said Emily wondering where this was going.

"Oh good. I know due to your work schedule that trying to set up a final home visit has been a little crazy, but I was hoping you might be free tomorrow morning so we could meet up and talk about finalizing your adoption of Jody."

"Um yes...yes I would like to do that."

"Great how does ten am sound?" asked Kristen.

"That sounds good." They ironed out some details and arranged to meet up. Emily hung up the phone and looked around the apartment nervously. Everything looked cleaned up and in place. _Relax...remember what they told you at home study classes Just relax and be yourself, they aren't interested in some dirty dishes and dust. _Emily put the dishes in the dish washer and started it. She poured herself a glass of white wine to calm her nerves. Emily sipped it and tried to wrap her head around what this would mean. _ I would be her mother...legally...morally I've already accepted that I'm her parent. I just wish it would have been different. She misses you Kyle all the time and once in awhile I find myself missing you. You were a good friend and I promise you that I'll do right by her._

The next morning Emily got up and she heard Jody in the living room with Lilo and Serigo. Emily went into the living room and saw Jody had gotten herself a bowl of cereal and was watching My Little Pony.

"Hey good morning."

"Morning," said Jody not taking her eyes off the screen. Emily shook her head and went to make herself a cup of coffee. She than took her cup and sat down with Jody to watch cartoons. After it was over she took a shower and gave Jody her bath. They took Lilo for a quick walk before heading back to the apartment.

"Can I watch more My Little Pony?" asked Jody.

"We'll see. Do you have homework?" asked Emily. Jody frowned and muttered yes. "You finish your homework and you can watch TV all you want." Jody went to get her backpack to show Emily what homework she had to do when they heard someone knock at the door.

"Think you can do the math problems by yourself while I get the door?" asked Emily.

"Yeah," said Jody getting her workbook out and sitting down. Emily went to the door and looked through the peep hole. Outside her door was a short, plump, older woman with long blond hair and wearing black pants and a blue sweater. Emily opened the door.

"Ms. Prentiss," she held out her hand. "I'm Kristen Manore. It's nice to meet you." Emily shook her hand and let her in.

"Can I get you anything?" asked Emily.

"Nothing right now thank you. While don't we start with a tour of the apartment and than I would like to speak to each of you separately if that's alright with you."

"Of course," They walked into the living room Jody looked up from her homework.

"Jody, this is Kristen and she's going to talk to us for a little bit ok," said Emily. Jody nodded and went back to her homework. They headed back towards the bedrooms when Kristen started talking again.

"How long have you known Jody?"

"About five or six months," admitted Emily.

"No one has contacted you about her. No family or friends of her father?" Emily showed her into Jody's room. Emily fought the urge to pick at her nails, Jody's room did look a little sparse, but Emily was planning on doing Jody's room when they got the new house anyway she wanted it.

"Kyle's parents died when he was eighteen and none of her mother's family have come forward...she doesn't know them at all." Kristen looked around the room and looked though the books Jody had, the clothes in the closet and dressers.

"How has she been doing the last few weeks?" asked Kristen.

"It was a little rough at first, considering what she might have witnessed. But, she seems to be adjusting well. She hasn't had any nightmares this week and she's looking forward to summer break. She wants to do a Girl Scout camp." They moved from Jody's room to Emily's room.

"Do you keep a gun in the home?" asked Kristen looking around.

"I have to because of my job, but I keep it in a safe on the bookcase," said Emily showing it to her. Jody would have to pull up a chair to get to the safe and even than it would still be hard for her to reach.

"I lock it up the second we get home and she knows that it's not toy," said Emily recalling how stern she was with Jody about the gun. She watched Kristen go into the bathroom and do a check of the medicine cabinet.

"Let's go back out to the living room and we'll talk," said Kristen. They went back towards the living room and sat down across from each other. Kristen pulled out Jody's file and they started talking.

"You tend to travel a lot for your job," said Kristen.

"It tends to happen. I have made arrangements for Jody when I do go to stay with a friend of mine. I call or e-mail her at least three times a day when I'm away for work," said Emily.

"How does Jody seem to take you leaving?"

"It was rough at first, but we seem to have gotten the hang of things."

"How are you adjusting to this?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you are a well traveled and seasoned FBI agent, who before that did some serious undercover work in a terrorist ring." Emily started picking at her nails. "Until now you had no real reason to settle down, no family you appear to be close to, no prior marriages and all your references came from your co-workers or their spouses."

"They are my family," said Emily.

"I have no doubt in my mind that you want to do this, but understand I'm not the only person who is going to ask these types of questions. Tell me why you want to raise Jody?" Emily took a deep breath and forced herself not to pick her nails.

"I love her. I know that sounds crazy considering that her father and I didn't date that long, but he trusted me with her and I will do anything to keep her safe and to make sure that she's happy and well cared for. I was ready to give up my life before to make sure a child was safe and if I need to give up being a federal agent to be able to raise Jody than I will do just that. I am willing to do anything to make sure she's taken care of." Kristen nodded and took some more notes.

"I think I'm ready to speak to Jody now."

"I'll get her," said Emily. She went back into the kitchen and saw Jody hunched over her workbook.

"Hey. Why don't you take a break? My friend Kristen would like to talk to you for a little bit."

"Ok." Emily took Jody into the living and introduced to Kristen.

"I'll be in the dining room if you need anything," said Emily. She sat down at the table and started looking over Jody's homework and circling the few problems she needed to do over and kept her ear towards the living room to try to hear what was being said. After what felt like forever, Kristen and Jody came back into the dining room.

"I think we're finished for now. I'll get in touch you with next week with a final court date. Have a nice weekend." Kristen showed herself out and Jody sat back down with Emily so they could finish up her homework.

"Why did that lady ask so many questions?" asked Jody once they were done.

"It's her job to ask questions. Like the other case workers," said Emily signing her name to a form that Jody had finished her homework.

"I wanna stay here with you."

"I want you to stay here too." Emily gave her a hug."Come on...I want see more of Twilight Sparkle." They went back into the living room and watched TV together. _I want you to stay here too...I would do anything to have you stay here._

…_... _"Everything looks really good," said Spencer.

"Thank you," said Elisa as she finished setting the table. Catherine came back into the dining room.

"Abby is out like a light. I knew she needed a nap," signed Catherine. "Do you need help with anything."

"Oh no everything is fine. You are guests. Saul just called and he should be here shortly." Elisa took the roast out and sat it on the table. Savannah came out of the bathroom and sat at the table twisting her hair.

"Relax Savannah it's going to be ok. My son just needs to talk this out with all of you," said/signed Elisa.

"I just want him to talk to me again," said/signed Savannah stirring her drink. Elisa bent down and hugged her.

"He's like his father, both of them are stubborn. I know he just needs to be talked too." Savannah nodded and they waited for Saul. Spencer and Catherine helped Elisa finish dinner while Savannah paced around the kitchen.

"Mom...Mami...I'm home," called Saul. Saul came into the kitchen and frowned at seeing them all there and he glared at Savannah.

"What are you all doing here?" asked Saul.

"I invited them over Saul for dinner. Now sit down, we all need to talk," said/signed Elisa. Saul glared again, but he sat down at the table.

"That's better," said/signed Elisa and she started serving dinner. Saul glared at Savannah and he piled up this plate with food. Savannah just picked at her food during the meal and looked at Saul.

"Now Saul, Catherine and Spencer have somethings they would like to talk to you about," said/signed Elisa. Saul just poked at his food and Catherine sat her fork down.

"Savannah has talked to us about her plans for the baby and that she wants us to adopt the baby," she signed. Saul glared.

"Now if you want to see the baby, we would be willing to make arrangements with you," signed Catherine.

"Arrangements to see my own kid! Savannah this is crap. I still love you and we could do this if we tried," said/signed Saul. Savannah just shook her head.

"How Saul? How would we do this? We have no money, no place to live, I haven't even finished high school. This is the best thing we can do. Catherine and Spencer are willing to have an open adoption with us so we could see the baby. Why don't you see that I'm trying to do the best thing for all of us?" said/signed Savannah. Saul got up and walked out. Elisa got up from the table and went after her son. Savannah left the table in tears and Spencer and Catherine looked at each not sure what to do.

"That went well," signed Catherine. Spencer heard the front door slam and Elisa came back into the room and threw her hands up.

"I'm sorry that he's acting this way. We'll have to try this again another time."

"It's ok...I can't imagine how hard this must be for him. He'll come around when he realizes this is the best we can do," said/signed Spencer. Spencer got Abby while Catherine tried to calm Savannah down. They headed for home, Abby asleep in the backseat while Savannah stared out the window. Savannah went right to her room when they got home and Abby woke up wanting to be fed and changed. Catherine took Abby into her room and got her back to sleep. She came back out and looked at Spencer.

"I don't think he's going to say yes. He is clearly very determined to do this and who are we to not let him. This is his child," signed Catherine.

"Are you having second thoughts?" asked Spencer.

"No. No I'm not, but if he really doesn't want to give up his baby than should we make him? He's nineteen, he could get a job and a place to live if he wants too. It's not fair to force this on him. I love Savannah too and I want to try to help them both. This is really hard for both of them...they're both trying to do the right thing." Catherine sighed and told him she was going to take a shower. Spencer picked up a book and started trying to read it when the doorbell lit up. Spencer went to the door and found Saul standing there.

"Can we talk?" asked Saul.

"Do you want to stay here or go for a walk?" asked Spencer.

"Let's go for a walk," said Saul. Spencer wrote a note for Catherine telling her where he had gone and grabbed his keys. They walked for a few blocks before Saul spoke up again.

"Why should I let you have my child?" Spencer looked at him. "I want to know why you and Catherine are doing this for us?"

"Catherine and I have discussed having more children, but honestly we want to do this because of how much we care about you two. I know this won't be easy for you for you. I love Abby with all my heart and I couldn't imagine what giving her up would be like...when Catherine was eighteen she thought she was pregnant and she wanted to keep the baby...she wasn't going to tell me about it and she was going to do it all alone. I don't want that for you and Savannah. We love both of you and we want to do this because we could have been you." Saul quickly wiped his eyes and looked out into the night.

"I just...you promise that...when the baby gets older you'll tell them about me and Savannah."

"You can see it anytime you want." Saul shook his head no.

"I can't...it wouldn't be right and I don't think I can deal right now. Tell Savannah I'll sign the papers and that I love her ok. I'll see you later." Before Spencer could say anything Saul took off down the street. Spencer sighed and headed back home. Spencer came into the apartment and Savannah was sitting on the sofa knitting.

"Hey," said Spencer and Savannah looked at him and gave him a very tired smile.

"You went out with Saul," said Savannah looking at the note.

"He wanted to talk...and he agreed to sign the papers." Savannah looked at him stunned.

"What did you say?" she asked.

"I told him I undersood how he felt about this. How this wouldn't be easy for him and he agreed to sign the papers and that he loves you." Savannah nodded.

"Thank you," said Savannah and she went to her room. Spencer went to his bedroom and found Catherine sitting their bed reading.

"How did it go?"

"He agreed to sign the papers." He sat down on the bed with Catherine and she hugged him.

"Is he going to be ok?" asked Catherine.

"In time..."


	21. Chapter twenty

Chapter twenty

"Just don't let Penny bejeweled her or cover her in make up please," signed Catherine. Spencer gave her a look.

"She's my daughter too and I think I can handle you being out of town this one time," he signed. Catherine bent down and looked at Abby in her stroller.

"Please be good for daddy. I don't think he can handle it if you showed your true colors," signed Catherine. Abby just smiled at her and waved her hands towards her. Catherine kissed Abby on her head and stood up to give him a kiss on the cheek. Spencer heard the wolf whistles of a few students and simply shook his head.

"Some things never change," he gestured to the kids on the bus and Catherine rolled her eyes.

"I'll see you tomorrow night. Love you." Spencer waved good bye to her and she got on the bus with the kids. They were heading to New York for an overnight trip to see a play, Savannah was part of the group going so the first time he was going to be the one at home while Catherine was away. Tomorrow he was taking her and going with Garcia to a local Sci-Fi convention.

While he planned to cos-play as Dr. Who with Garcia, he had no idea what she had planned to do with Abby. He hoped it wasn't anything too elaborate it might be more trouble than it was worth with a seven month old. Spencer got Abby back on the Metro without any issue and through dinner without much fuss. It was when she started to get tired that she started to become cranky and almost unmanageable

"Hey...shush...it's ok," said/signed Spencer to Abby. He got Abby into a pair of clean pajamas and went to sit down to rock her to sleep and she just wouldn't calm down. He had seen her throw fits before, but this was totally different. He got up and started to walk around the room with her to try and calm her down.

"You miss mom huh...I know...she's normally here all the time," said Spencer. Abby sniffled and Spencer felt her finally doze off in his arms from exhaustion. He sighed and put her in her crib. Spencer watched her let out a deep sigh, but she stayed asleep. He eased out of the room slowly and shut the door. He hated seeing Abby so upset, this wasn't her first temper tantrum but this was a bad one.

Spencer sat down on the sofa and picked up a book that they had picked about the adoption process. Saul had given them the papers before he went back to school last weekend. Spencer could tell that Catherine was still nervous about going through with this, but it was more about them getting the okay to have the baby. A weight seemed to be lifted off Savannah's shoulders once Saul had signed the papers. She had already lined up a summer job so she could build up her saving for school and it looked like she was going to graduate in the top 15 percent of her class. He was proud of her, she had come a long way considering everything that had happened in the last few months. She had asked them to come with her on Monday afternoon when she had her ultrasound and Spencer found himself feeling excited and terrified all at the same time, _just like I was for Abby._

…...

Catherine stretched out on the bed and was flipping through channels in the hotel room. Everyone had just finished dinner and a few of the students and the teachers had gone down to the pool and the other kids were hanging out in the their rooms, Catherine had just done a head count to make sure no one had slipped out. It was so weird to be by herself, she kept finding herself thinking that she should check on Abby and than remembering that she was baby free for the first time in months. _That's going to change real soon._

It was still a little surreal to here that she was going to have another baby in her life in a few short months. She was a little worried that Abby might get a little jealous, she wasn't spoiled but she was used to having things a certain way. Even at seven months she was so much like Spencer in temperament about having things a certain way. Catherine took a sip of the tea she had made in the room and continued thinking.

Her leave was already cleared with the school and since she was tenured she could be away for as long as she wanted and get her position back without as much red tape. However, she was wondering how hard it would be to go back to work and try to raise both children when Spencer had to leave. She had access to day care on campus, but it was still it was going be a little hard to balance a full course load, the glee club and two babies at the same time. She wanted to start Abby in speech therapy after her first birthday, granted her and Spencer were working with her all the time on her speech and signing it would be good to get her into a professional sooner rather than later. The more she thought about taking a longer leave of absence...maybe until both children were in school.

_ Would I miss teaching if I quit competely? _She could cut back to part time and help run the drama club a few hours a week to bring in some income, but would it be hard to walk away from her students and the staff she had made friends with.

When she was younger she never imagined herself having a family. Who would want children with a Deaf woman? She hadn't even been sure she wanted to have children when she was with Paul even though she loved him and they had dated for years and were married for six months. It had always been different with Spencer though. The first time she had thought she and Spencer were pregnant she was only eighteen and she was terrified about what her family, friends and Spencer would think. She still wanted it though, even though there was the possibility of her whole life going down the drain she wanted to keep it. _I just can't explain what it is between us, I just knew he was the one I wanted to have a family with. _Catherine saw her door bell light come on and she got up to get the door. Savannah was standing there.

"Got bored sitting in the room by myself and I really don't belong by the pool...mind if I hang out here?" asked Savannah. Catherine let her in and they sat on the bed together watching Cake Boss.

"So I've never asked the doctor to tell me the sex of the baby, but would you and Spencer like to know when we go on Monday?" Catherine had gone with her a few times to the doctor for check ups and ultrasounds, but she had never asked about the sex of the baby.

"I never did like surprises," teased Catherine. Savannah smiled and rested her hands on a very pronounced bump.

"Are you ok? You seem a little spacey?"

"It's just a little odd being baby-less right now. I keep waiting for Abby to need something."

"I sure she's driving Spencer nuts and ow..."

"Are you ok?" asked Catherine.

"It kicked me," signed Savannah. She grabbed Catherine's hand and placed it on her bump. Catherine waited a few seconds and than felt a movement against her hand.

"Yeah it's always jarring to have that happen." They both looked at each other and Savannah sighed.

"It just so weird you know. I thought giving up the baby would be hard, but now that I know it's going to be with you and Spencer...I feel much better about everything. Is there something wrong with me...that I'm ok just giving my baby away?"

"No. You want the best for your baby and I'm a little more than flattered that you think of me and Spencer as the best."

"Because you are." They settled back in and Catherine knew she would have to talk to Spencer. It would be hard to step back from her job, but wouldn't raising her children be another form of teaching. _Probably the greatest teaching job of them all._

…...

Spencer sat Abby down in her chair and handed her a piece of toast to munch on. She started gumming it down.

"Someone is in a better mood this morning," said/signed Spencer looking at Abby. He sat down with his cup of coffee and watched her eat her breakfast. He heard a knock at the door and went to get it. Garcia was already dressed and was holding a pink bag that clearly had Abby's outfit in it.

"Ok you can't see it until you get dressed. But I promise you that it is adorable and you have to get lots of pictures of her for Catherine. Shoo go get ready," said Garcia. Spencer just shook his head and headed into the bathroom to shower and get dressed. When he finished getting ready he came back out into the living room Abby was dressed as an Adipose, it was a full jumper with a hood for the head and Garcia was sitting on the sofa while Abby was trying to pull herself up using the coffee table.

"Oh my god Garcia she looks so cute...even though they were little monsters made of excess body fat they were cute." She stood up and was holding the adoption book in her hands and the notebook he had been taking notes in.

"Um may I ask why you have written down: 'Contact adoption lawyer to finalize papers' and 'Talk to social worker to set up home visits'...Do you mind sharing with me?" They hadn't told anyone they were adopting Savannah's baby yet, they wanted to make sure everything was in place before making an announcement. When he wouldn't answer she guessed anyway.

"Oh god are you adopting...oh my god you are adopting Savannah's baby...OH MY GOD!"

"Just calm down. Catherine and I are going to adopt the baby and we weren't going to tell everybody after we got things settled and we got the ok from adoption courts. Please don't tell anybody yet." Garcia bit her lip and sat the book down.

"Ok. I will keep this too myself for now. I just...wow you guys are having another baby," Garcia hugged him tightly. "I just know that you guys are going to get the ok." Abby started fussing when she couldn't get her grip and Spencer picked her up. She looked at him confused and went to tug on his wig. He took her hand and just smiled at her.

"Nice try. You mind if we finish this conversation after we get through the con?" Garcia just shook her head. Even after all this time her boy genius still kept things close to vest.

"I'll hold you too it." They gathered up everything and got in Garcia's car and started driving towards the convention. Abby kept tugging on the hood of the costume and giving him this look that she was not amused by any of this. When they got there, he got Abby in her stroller and gave her a pacifier to suck on. They kept getting stopped so people could admire Abby's costume and take pictures. They got through the badge line quickly and picked up their programs and made their way to the main hall. Garcia did a quick skim of the program as they walked.

"Ok the TV and Movie panel is in hall H at nine so we should still be able to get good seats if we want to go."

"Absolutely. Do you think we can make it to the Star Trek Captain's panel by eleven?" asked Spencer.

"Oh yeah. Thank you for coming with me by the way," said Garcia.

"Of course I've been knitting this scarf for a week." Abby started fussing in her stroller and Spencer slowed down to see what her issue was and they almost ran into Kevin and another agent Spencer had only seen once or twice in passing. Spencer knew that Garcia and Kevin's relationship had ended rather recently so he could only imagine what was going through her mind right now.

"Oh Kevin...hi you came and you brought a friend. Technical Analysis Sharpe how are you?" she asked. Kevin looked to Spencer and than to Abby in her stroller as if they could help in some way.

"I'm fine. How are you?" asked Sharpe clearly picking up on the vibe of awkward.

"I am also good. Well ok see ya." Garcia grabbed his arm and dug her fingers in to stop any protest.

"You're not going in?' asked Kevin.

"Oh we were in already and it's super lame and we should get Abby home for her nap," said Garcia.

"She just woke up," countered Spencer and she dug her nails into his sleeve.

"Well she needs to be changed, so we're leaving now," Garcia started pulling on him so he had no say in the matter as Kevin called out his goodbye.

"Well that was awkward,"said Spencer as he got Abby's stroller down some stairs.

"We used to go every year and I can't believe he brought someone else," said Garcia.

"Well you brought someone else," said Spencer trying to calm her down.

"Yeah someone I could never be sexually attracted too," she whined.

"You're welcome.

"Hello you are married to one of my best friends and have a child with her. You are so far off limits it's like you are on another world." Spencer just shook head and looked over to see Rossi waiting for his car.

"Hey Rossi," called out Spencer. The older man turned around and raised an eyebrow looking at them in their costumes.

"Why does this not surprise me?"

"Are you here for the convention?" asked Spencer. Rossi did have a fondness for video games and their was a panel being held about gaming and the social impact it had.

"Who schedules a Cigar Aficionado event back to back with this?" asked Rossi gesturing at them.

"I know it's the greatest party of all...or it was going to be," said Spencer noticing how depressed Garcia looked.

"Unless it involves Gentleman Jack or Pre-Embrgo Cuban cigars I find your claim to be highly dubious," said Rossi.

"Kevin brought another woman and I'm plotting revenge do you want to help?" asked Garcia.

"No. Now you know I love you, but it's Saturday and it's my day off and I want to love you all from afar so you have fun." The valet pulled Rossi's car up and handed him the keys. Rossi looked down at Abby who was trying to pull her hood off and was muttering to herself. Rossi got down so he could look Abby in the eyes.

"You poor sweet baby. You did nothing to deserve this and you have my pity." Rossi took her hood off and stood up.

"Have a nice day." He got in his care and drove off. Garcia just shook her head and looked across the street and gasped. Spencer turned to see what she was looking at and across the street leaving the JW Marriott was Erin Strauss looking around worried and out of sorts handing her key to a valet.

"Let's go," said Spencer and he took Garcia by the arm and down the street.

"Do you think Rossi and her her...you know..." she asked.

"I don't want to," he said. They decided to get some coffee and so he could change Abby since she kept fussing and muttering to herself. It was getting warm and she was clearly annoyed in the fuzzy costume. He got her changed and Garcia had ordered them a coffee and found them a table. Spencer sat Abby back in her stroller and handed her a toy and dry cookie from her bag to keep her entertained.

"So...to take my mind off Kevin let's talk about you and Catherine. You guys are really going to adopt another baby?" Spencer took a sip of his coffee and added another sugar.

"We haven't gotten the alright from the courts or the social workers so until we do we don't have a baby yet. We just got the papers signed last weekend from Saul giving up his rights."

"You and Catherine are great parents and I can't imagine anyone not seeing that," said Garcia.

"Thank you," said Spencer. Abby reached out and Spencer felt her small hand on his leg. She was still giving him that confused look and he realized he still had his wig on. Spencer took it off and Abby started laughing at him. "Glad you find that funny." He took her out the stroller and let her stand on his lap.

"God she's gotten so big...she makes me feel old," said Garcia reaching out and touching Abby's arm.

"She doesn't make me feel old, she makes me happy," said Spencer has she tried to play with his scarf.

"So what would you do to any boy that made her want to cry?"

"I have gotten better at distance shooting. By the time she's thirteen I plan on being an expect marksman from at least a football field away." Garcia looked at Spencer and just shook her.

"You are such a dad." Before he could say anything else their phones went off.

"Can't even have a Saturday," Garcia muttered and got her phone. Spencer sighed and looked at Abby. It was moments like this when she made him feel old and a little sad. _I can't even have one full day with her...what will it be like with another child?_

"A bank robbery went bad and they need us ASAP," said Garcia.

"You know anyone who can take a seven month old on short notice?"

"My friend Jenny. She does another support group and is great with babies. Let me call her." Garcia went to make the call and Spencer got Abby back in her stroller and try to ignore the sad puppy dog eyes she was giving him.

"Jenny is more than happy to watch her for a little bit. Come on Doctor, it's time to get in the Tardis and go." Garcia had a change of clothes in her car and they headed back to his apartment so he could get some other things for Abby and they could both change. Garcia drove them out of the District and towards the suburbs. She pulled up to a house where a tall woman with long red hair was waiting for them outside.

"Hi. I'm Jenny and this must be Abby. I've met your wife at one of our group meetings and I promise you Abby is in good hands," said Jenny. Catherine had gone to a few grief meetings after Abby was born to help deal with her miscarriage she had prior to Abby.

"Thank you so much for doing this on such short notice." Spencer handed over Abby and diaper bag.

"Um she hasn't had lunch yet and she's gonna want a nap here in a little bit and..."Jenny just shook her head.

"I have six children...trust me I promise she will be fine Dr. Reid."

"Reid we have to go," said Garcia. Spencer gave Abby a quick kiss on her head.

"Bye sweetie," he said/signed and got in the car with Garcia and tried to ignore the twist in his heart when he heard Abby fussing and crying.

…...

When the case was over and Spencer was allowed to pick up Abby from Jenny's he found that she was sound asleep. _It is past her bedtime after all._ Jenny had changed her into a pair of pajamas he had packed for her and she was asleep in a small playpen.

"She was a little fussy at first, but she settled down and we got her to eat some lunch and dinner. She's a very sweet baby." Spencer picked her up and she stayed asleep.

"Thank you so much for this." Spencer went to hand her some money for watching Abby and she shook her head no.

"It's not necessary. I know what it's like to be called into work on short notice. Have a nice night." Spencer took Abby out to the car and got her into the car seat and she stayed asleep. He kissed her forehead and watched her yawn. _If anything were to happen to you...I don't know what I would do?_ He started the drive back home and thought about JJ, Henry and Will. _She could have lost them all __today._

Will had been one of the responding officers to the bank robbery and had shot and killed one of the robbers. The other two robbers a man and a woman held the hostages in the back and the brother of the dead robber started shooting the hostage until they agreed to let Will go in. He went in and was shot by the robber. Lucky he was wearing his vest, however they took Will hostage and blew up the bank killing more of the hostages who didn't get out in time.

They figured out that one of the hostages was actually another Un-sub and after killing her other partner she and the Un-sub went on to their real goal, a terrorist attack on DC. They forced Will to take them to his home and collect Henry so the female was holding him hostage to make Will do what they wanted and than they strapped a bomb to Will and left him to die. Emily had defused the bomb saving Will's life and Hotch had killed the other Un-sub. JJ and Rossi had figured out where they were headed and JJ went into her home and saved Henry from the female Un-sub and than fought her to boot. After almost losing her whole family today, JJ finally decided to marry Will. Rossi had overheard the whole thing and that the couple planned to elope on Monday to a court house and JJ clearly hadn't learned you couldn't do anything in secret when your family is the BAU and tomorrow night Rossi had invited JJ to what she thought was going to be a team dinner, when it was going to be her own wedding. He couldn't wait to see the look on her face. _At least I knew about my own wedding._

Spencer pulled into the parking lot of the school and saw that other parents were waiting in cars for their kids. Spencer looked into the back seat where Abby was still sound asleep. He parked the car and got into the backseat so he could sit next to Abby. She was still sound asleep and her curls were sticking to her head and her face. Spencer reached over and brushed her hair back off her face.

"I'm sorry we didn't get to spend the day together. I really wanted to take you your first convention and it just dawned on me that I didn't get any pictures of you for your mom. I know that we don't get to do a lot together and I have a feeling that it's not going to get better, but I promise you that no matter what I love you and even if I'm not here for you, or your mom, or your siblings that I love you all more than anything."

Spencer saw the bus pull up into the school parking lot and he got out the back seat and watched the kids and teachers file off the bus and be collected by parents and other family members. Catherine and Savannah were the last ones off the bus. Catherine made sure all the kids were picked up before heading over to him. He watched Savannah get in a car with another girl and her mother and than Catherine said goodbye to the driver and headed over to him. She could tell by looking at him that he was stressed out and was happy that Savannah had decided to spend the night with Mindy so they could work on a project together tomorrow so they could talk.

Spencer hugged her tightly and Catherine gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Where is Savannah going?" asked Spencer.

"She and Mindy have a speech project they need to work on so they figured it was easier to get together tonight and start fresh in the morning. It's nice to see Abby still has the same hair color. How was the convention?" asked Catherine.

"That's a long story. Come on let's go home and I'll tell you." They drove home and Abby woke up as they got her out of the car. She started to fuss, but when she realized Catherine was there she calm down and let Catherine change her diaper, get her into a clean pair of pajamas and into bed. "She really missed you last. She cried herself to sleep and it really...it really sucked," signed Spencer.

"They was one night a few months ago and you were gone and she had a cold. She wouldn't stop crying and her nose was runny and I could feel that she was making herself hoarse. I felt horrible, like I was the world's worst parent. I think that's her talent to make us feel horrible about ourselves," signed Catherine. She went into the kitchen to make them some tea, Spencer took one last look at the sleeping baby and followed Catherine.

"So other than her hissy fit last night, how was she?" asked Catherine. Spencer leaned against the counter.

"Well she was good this morning and well...I didn't get to spend the rest of the day with her because I got called in for a case. So she got to spend the day with a sitter and I got to work. Fun times all around," signed Spencer and Catherine could tell how upset he was. He filled her in on everything else that happened with JJ and Will and the wedding that was going to take place tomorrow night.

"I hope she likes surprises," teased Catherine finishing her tea. "Anything else you want to talk about." Spencer sat his tea down and just hugged her.

"I was just looking forward to spending the day with Abby and I'm disappointed that I didn't get too. I know that with this job it means that I'm going to miss things with her, I just hoped that after awhile I wouldn't feel so shitty about it," signed Spencer. Catherine squeezed his hand and he continued. "I just don't want them to think it's because I don't love them that I'm missing out. It's the way I felt when my dad would miss things, that he didn't love me."

"I promise you that I will make sure our kids know how much you love them. Umm I guess this would be a good time to talk to you about something I've been kicking around. How would you feel if I asked for a longer leave?" asked Catherine.

"How long of a leave?" asked Spencer.

"I was thinking about until the kids are both in school." Spencer gave her a look and Catherine went on. "I could still teach like part time or tutor on the side so we wouldn't be strapped for cash, but I was thinking for the most part I would stay home with them."

"You love teaching though. It's not fair for you to give that up," counted Spencer.

"I do love teaching and I wouldn't be walking away from it completely or forever. I have to talk to Leo to see if they would be willing to let me take the longer leave or if they would be willing to cut my class load so I could be home with them more. It's just something I was kicking around and I wanted your input." Spencer sighed he made a decent income so they could swing Catherine being off for awhile, plus if she was still working part time or even on the side they would be ok financially. What bothered him was how she was willing to put down the thing she loved and worked so hard for to be a stay at home mom since he couldn't...wouldn't leave his job.

"We could get a nanny, I could take more time off..."Catherine shook her head.

"Do you know how much nannies cost? I know you Spencer Reid and you have tried before to walk away from the BAU and it didn't suit you. I would still be teaching in a way," signed Catherine. Spencer looked at her and knew that she had already made up her mind and he knew it really didn't matter what he said she was going to do it, she just wanted him to be ok with it.

"I think Morgan might have been right," signed Spencer.

"Right about what?" asked Catherine.

"He said that I Jedi Mind Tricked you into marrying me. I love you and I hope you understand how wonderful you are," signed Spencer. Catherine just shook her head again and Spencer knew she would never understand how wonderful she was really was for doing this for him and their family.

"Come on, we need to get some sleep." Catherine headed to the bathroom to take a shower and Spencer checked on Abby one more time before changing into a pair of pajamas and getting into bed. Catherine finished her shower and came into bed wearing a pair of shorts and one of his old Cal-Tech shirts.

"I love you," whispered Spencer as Catherine leaned over and turned off the light.

…...

"Wow this is really nice," said Savannah looking up at Rossi's house. Catherine got Abby out the backseat of the car and looked up at the house impressed.

"I regret eloping if this what we could have had," teased Catherine. Spencer gave her a look and got the presents out of the backseat. They went up to the house and were greeted by Rossi.

"Well it's nice to see your mother is back in charge of dressing you," said Rossi looking at Abby who was dressed in a light purple dress and her hair brushed back. Catherine looked at Spencer for what was being said.

"Long story," said/signed Spencer. They went inside and Spencer took his gifts to the table outside.

"I heard that you were good at costuming," said Rossi looking at Savannah.

"I did get a full ride scholarship to a design school in Chicago," said Savannah.

"We might need your help with something," said Rossi. Spencer came back up to them as an older blond woman came up to them carrying a garment bag.

"I had it cleaned, but it might needed to be hemmed," she said. She looked at Spencer and Catherine and shook her head. "I sorry I have no manners at all. I'm Sandy, JJ's mother." Spencer quickly signed to Catherine what had been said and she adjusted Abby in her arms.

"It's nice to meet you," said Catherine slowly so Sandy could understand her.

"You must be Spencer and Catherine...JJ talks about you two all the time and this must be Abby. Oh she is just adorable," said Sandy and Spencer signed it to her.

"This is our foster daughter Savannah," said Spencer. Savannah gave a nervous little wave. Sandy turned to her and smiled.

"Rossi told me that you are skilled with a sewing machine and I think I'm going to need your help." She opened up the garment bag and inside was a very old wedding dress. "This was my wedding dress from about thirty years ago. I was a little taller than JJ, but I think we're the same size."

"Oh wow, I don't know...I didn't bring my kit," said Savannah.

"I have a machine upstairs," said Rossi and Spencer gave him a look. "What my second wife was very into arts and crafts and she left some things behind. " Savannah looked at the dress nervously and took it from Sandy.

"I would like to wait for the bride to get here before I start toying with this. Wedding dresses are one shot deals," said Savannah. She followed Sandy upstairs to study the dress in more detail. Catherine got the hint that they wanted Savannah to do something with the wedding dress. Spencer simply shook his head.

"Come on I'll give you the tour," said Rossi and Spencer signed it to Catherine.

"It's so pretty," said Catherine looking at the backyard where everything was being set up.

"Well thank you," said Rossi and he tried to sign it and he shook his head. "I should sit down one of these days and have you teach me. Since you taught everyone else."

"Any time you want to learn," said Spencer. Rossi went to go see what was going on in the kitchen, leaving Catherine, Spencer and Abby to walk around the garden.

"Are you really sorry that we eloped?" asked Spencer.

"No. My dad is still bitter about it though. He still wants me in that white dress," signed Catherine.

"I didn't care what you were wearing. I was just happy you said yes," signed Spencer. Catherine put Abby down, but held on to her hands so she could try and waddle along. Spencer watched her and smiled.

"Well look at you in a suit," teased Morgan.

"Thanks." Morgan looked over to where Catherine was with Abby and smiled.

"It's hard to think sometimes that things can be so normal outside of work. God she's gotten so big. How old is she now?"

"Seven months and two weeks," said Spencer.

"Getting to be old on me Pretty Boy." Spencer just rolled his eyes and watched Catherine take Abby over to a fountain and showed her the water.

"So how do you think JJ is going to take her surprise wedding?" asked Morgan.

"After yesterday I think she's going to love it," said Spencer. Spencer watched Will and Henry come up to them. Spencer excused himself from Morgan and went over to them.

"Congratulations," said/signed Spencer coming over to them.

"JJ's upstairs getting ready. Um...do you mind watching Henry for a minute. I need to get something out of the car?" asked Will.

"No it's fine," said/signed Catherine. Will walked away and Spencer picked Henry up and gave him a hug.

"Oh Henry...I don't think I'm going to be able to do that much longer. You're getting too big." Henry just laughed at him.

"Show me a trick," said Henry. Spencer took off his own wedding ring and ignored the look Catherine was giving him.

"In my hand I hold a very special ring. Do you know why it's special?" asked Spencer and Henry shook his head. "This ring is a promise that I made to Aunt Kitty that no matter what I would love her the best and today your daddy is going to give one to your mommy. Now I'm going to put it in my hand and give it a shake and blow on it...you blow on it too...and oh no where did it go...I have to find it or Aunt Kitty is going to be very mad at me and oh you really need to clean out your ears," said Spencer pulling the ring out from behind Henry's ear and the boy just laughed at him.

"Silly Spence," laughed Henry. Catherine shook her head and looked at Abby.

"I think I was Jedi Minded Ticked...but your daddy was worth it," she signed.

…...

"I'm sorry. Does this help?" asked JJ getting on a chair.

"Oh thank you," said Savannah and she started pinning a hem on the dress. The poor girl had been trying to kneel and JJ knew what trying to kneel while being five months pregnant was like. Getting on a chair made it easier for the young girl.

"Spencer said you're his foster daughter?" asked Sandy.

"That's the simple way of putting it," said Savannah. JJ gave her mother a look, her mother was a sweet lady, but she was nosy one.

"You aren't from around here though? But your twang is different than Will's," said Sandy.

"I'm a Georgia Peach. We lived there until about two years ago and trust me the accent stays no matter where you go." Savannah started pinning a hem.

"Lucky we don't have to take it in, not a lot of give in the fabric. Wedding dresses generally tend to only give a size or two. Ok I think you can get down now," said Savannah. JJ got off the chair and stepped out of the dress and put a robe back on. Savannah sat down at a sewing machine and started working.

"How long have you been sewing like this honey?" asked Sandy.

"Oh wow, since I was little I guess. I've just always liked do this," said Savannah. She finished the hem and took it off the machine. "Ok final fitting." JJ took the dress from her and stepped back into it. It fit perfectly and looked wonderful on her. JJ quickly wiped her eyes.

"Mom...thank you," said JJ and she turned and gave her a hug. JJ spotted Savannah putting the sewing machine away and she went up to her and gave her a hug.

"You did a wonderful job. I see why you got that scholarship to design school. Thank you," said JJ. Savannah blushed and wiped her eyes.

"Sorry, damn hormones," muttered Savannah.

"I know what it's like," said JJ.

"When are you due sweetie?" asked Sandy.

"September," said Savannah. JJ sat down to start doing her hair and Sandy pulled out a make up kit.

"So are you going to take the baby with you to school or..." started Sandy.

"Mom," started JJ.

"Oh it's ok. Um actually Spencer and Catherine are planning on adopting it," said Savannah and JJ dropped her hairbrush.

"Really," said JJ. "He hasn't said anything yet." Savannah blushed again.

"Oh well we still haven't got the papers finalized yet so it's still up in the air right now. I'm gonna go downstairs now. Good luck," said Savannah and she left the room.

JJ sighed, she didn't mean to upset Savannah. In a way she wasn't surprised that Reid and Catherine had agreed to take the baby and she wasn't surprised they hadn't told anyone yet. They were always guarded about their private lives and this was a huge thing. She had a feeling that they would tell her when they were ready. Sandy picked up her brush and started doing her hair.

"It was sweet of them to take that poor girl in. She seems very nice though," said Sandy. JJ nodded. _She just needed a family and she found a good one._

…...

Spencer saw Savannah come back down the stairs while getting him and Catherine a drink and she looked upset. He saw her duck into another bedroom and he decided to check on her.

"Savannah...are you ok?" he knocked on the door and he heard her sniffle. "Savannah." Spencer opened the door and saw that she was sitting in a chair and was crying. He shut the door and came over to her. "Hey...hey...what's wrong?" She wiped her eyes and looked at him.

"Are you having second thoughts about the baby?" she asked.

"What? No...why would you think that?" asked Spencer handing her a tissue. She took it and wiped her eyes.

"JJ said you hadn't told her yet and if you haven't told her that means you haven't told the team or anyone. Why haven't you told anyone yet?" Spencer sighed and sat down across from her.

"We wanted to make sure that we have the ok before telling anyone. Catherine hasn't even told her dad yet and she tells him everything. We aren't having second thoughts, we just don't want to get our hopes up only to have them crushed. Catherine and I are used to things not working for us they way they should so we try to keep things hidden until we're sure it's going to work. Trust me we aren't having second thoughts...we really want this Savannah," said Spencer. She wiped her eyes quickly and looked at Spencer.

"Sorry I spazzed out like this," Savannah shook her head.

"Catherine started crying once over an episode of The Tudors when she was pregnant with Abby. I'm sort of used to dealing with hormonal pregnant women. Are you going to be ok?" asked Spencer.

"Yeah. I must look like a mess though," said Savannah

"Everyone cries at weddings right," said Spencer and Savannah let out a small laugh. "Come on, I'll let you have a Coke." Savannah stood up and gave him a hug.

"My mom was really stupid to not see how awesome you are." Savannah left the room and Spencer shook his head. _Please let Abby's teenage years be easier._

"Hey you gonna sit here all night or come outside with the the rest of us and watch the wedding?" asked Emily. Spencer followed Emily outside, Catherine was standing next to Garcia and Strauss. Strauss was asking Catherine questions about Abby and Garcia was interpreting for her.

"Would it be alright if I held her?" asked Struass. Catherine handed Abby over and Strauss smiled. Abby looked up and her and the baby gave her a smile.

"It's been a very long time since I've got to hold a baby and you are a pretty little girl." Abby saw her father and started waving her arms towards him and whining. Struass looked over and handed Abby to Spencer.

"Someone is a daddy's girl," said Struass. Abby grabbed his tie and started tugged on it.

"We're about to start so everyone take a spot," said Rossi. Spencer adjusted Abby in his arms and motioned to Catherine that they needed to find a spot. Savannah came over and stood next to them. Catherine took Abby from him and leaned against Spencer. She felt Spencer wrap his arms around her waist, pull her close to him and kiss her on the head. He normally wasn't one for serious displays of public affection, even after being together for six years he would still hardly kiss her in public. _Even after all this time it still makes me feel special when he does this, _thought Catherine. Spencer heard the wedding match start and he looked behind him to see JJ walking with her mother. Catherine followed his gaze along with everybody else.

"She looks pretty," whispered Catherine. _You were prettier,_ thought Spencer recalling how she looked in the red dress with her hair pulled up in a ponytail. JJ made her way up to Will and Henry and she bent down and gave Henry a kiss on the head. She stood up and Will took her hands in his.

"We are gathered here to watch the union between this man and this woman. Jennifer and William," said the preacher.

"Do you want me to sign for you?" asked Emily leaning over and Catherine shook her head no. She didn't need it to know how happy everyone was here or what was being said. She could still recall her own vows in her sleep.

Spencer watched JJ take a ring from Henry and place it on Will's left hand. Spencer felt Catherine's ring and could recall how their hands were shaking when they exchanged vows and rings.

"I Jennifer, take you William to be my lawfully wedded husband. To have and hold, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health and to keep myself only for you until death do us part," said JJ. William took the ring from his son and kissed him on the head.

"I William, take you Jennifer to be my lawfully wedded wife. To have and hold, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health and to keep myself only for you until death do us part," said Will. Spencer rested his head on top of Catherine's. Abby was resting her head on Catherine's chest and was sucking on her pacifier. Spencer knew this gesture too well, Abby couldn't hear them, but she liked feeling their heartbeat when they held her. Catherine did the same thing at times when they were alone together. _Like mother, like daughter._

"By the power vested in me by The District of Columbia I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride." Will bent down and kissed JJ and she threw her arms around him and Will dipped her while still in the kiss.

"Show off," called Morgan.

"Oh shut up," yelled Emily and Jody giggled.

"He always has a coment doesn't he?" asked Catherine. Spencer kissed the top of her head.

"He's just jealous," signed Spencer.

…...

Dinner was served outside, thankfully Rossi had asked the party planners for booster seats and a high chair. Henry was sitting in a booster seat next to his parents, Jody and Jack also needed a booster seat since the table was so high. Abby was sitting in a high chair in between Catherine and Spencer. Catherine was trying to feed Abby her dinner while her own dinner was getting cold. Spencer sat his own fork down since he was done eating.

"Here, I'll feed her," signed/said Spencer taking the noodles from her. Catherine smiled and handed him the plate.

"You mean I'll get to eat a warm meal for a change...I like weddings," signed Catherine picking up her own fork and taking a bite of chicken. Spencer shook his head.

"Abby...Abby...over here," said/signed Spencer and he tapped her on shoulder. She turned towards him realizing he had her dinner.

"Oh look at Daddy," teased Morgan.

"Keep it up Morgan. I have your mother on speed dial," said/signed Spencer. Abby finished her dinner and Catherine just rolled her eyes.

"I always end up wearing her dinner. How did you do that?" asked Catherine.

"Magic," said/signed Spencer. JJ looked over at the scene and laughed.

"Will could always get Henry to take a bottle and not spit up on him. It is so unfair," said/signed JJ.

"I went to school one day with oatmeal on my sweater and no one told me till the end of day. Eight hours I walked around with peaches and cream on me and no one told me," said/signed Catherine.

"I will have you two know I suffered my fair share of baby spit up and messes in my day," said/signed Hotch teasing both of them.

"Dad," whined Jack and he put his head down on the table. Beth patted his head.

"It's ok. Your dad has told me all the best stories about you." Jody looked at Emily and Emily smiled.

"Sorry I got nothing on you." Jody smiled and went back to dinner.

"I try to throw a classy wedding and it devolves into talk about baby spit up," protested Rossi.

"Oh David...shut up," said Strauss and Garcia nearly choked on her wine

"Well maybe it's time to move this to the dance floor," joked Morgan.

"What do you say? Ready for our first dance Cheri?" asked Will. JJ took his hand and than she took Henry's hand.

"Yeah." The three went out to the dance floor. Spencer took Abby out of the high chair and Catherine followed him out to the dance floor. Everyone else made their way to the dance floor to watch the family have their first dance.

"What's the song," asked Catherine. Spencer handed Abby over to so he could sign the lyrics to her. Will had picked up Henry and JJ wrapped her arms around his neck and they all danced together.

_ Give me a kiss to build a dream on/And my imagination will thrive upon that kiss/Sweetheart, I ask no more than this/A kiss to build a dream on_

_ Give me a kiss before you leave me/And my imagination will feed my hungry heart/Leave me one thing before we part/A kiss to build a dream on/When Im alone with my fancies...Ill be with you/__  
><em>_Weaving romances...making believe theyre true___

_Give me your lips for just a moment/And my imagination will make that moment live/Give me what you alone can give/ A kiss to build a dream on. _

They finished their dance and the next song was more upbeat and everyone started to go to the dance floor.

"Do you want to dance?" asked Spencer.

"You haven't danced with me since our wedding," joked Catherine.

"Call it an early birthday present," signed Spencer. He took her hand and Catherine adjusted Abby in her arms so they could dance together. For the first time in years, Spencer didn't step on her feet. Catherine looked at him and grinned as the song finished.

"So who taught you how to dance?" joked Catherine. Abby rubbed her eyes and started whining.

"Someone is done for the night," said/signed Spencer. Rossi overheard them.

"I have a room upstairs you can put her in. I picked up a travel play pen this afternoon. I figured you might need it," said Rossi.

"Um...wow thank you," said Spencer. He signed to Catherine that it was ok to put Abby upstairs to sleep.

"Thank you," said Catherine. Rossi told Spencer which room it was and left them to get another glass of Scotch.

"Come on, let's go to bed," said/signed Spencer and they headed up to the house. Catherine grabbed the diaper bag and followed Spencer up the stairs and to the room that Rossi had told him to use. Catherine took Abby into the bathroom to change her diaper and Spencer made up the play pen for her. Catherine came out of the bathroom and Abby was wailing. Catherine shushed her and started walking around the room with her.

"Is she ok?" asked Spencer, Abby's cries were shrill and she was rubbing her face. Catherine felt her forehead and frowned.

"She has a little fever...I think she might be teething," said Catherine. Spencer reached into the diaper bag and fished out a bottle of baby asprin, he shook two out.

"Abby...Abby...looked what Daddy has. Open up for me," said/signed Spencer. Abby eyed him, but took the medicine from him. Catherine started walking around the room with Abby and she drifted off to sleep. Catherine laid the baby down and she stayed asleep.

"I guess that's why she was in such a foul mood the night before," signed Spencer.

"Well she's about the age for it. You ok?" asked Catherine.

"I love you," signed Spencer.

"I've lost count of how many times you've told me that," admitted Catherine.

"I stopped counting," signed Spencer kissing her on the forehead. _At least two hundred and sixty five times,_ thought Spencer._ I did lose count on how often I have thought about how much I love you. _

"I would like another dance with you," signed Catherine.

"Will she be ok?" asked Spencer.

"I check on her again in an hour. She's getting pretty good about sleeping through the night though," signed Catherine.

"I noticed," signed Spencer. Catherine took his hand and they went back to the party. Morgan was dancing with Garcia. JJ was dancing with Henry and Will was asking Savannah to dance. Jack and Jody were sitting off the to the side together coloring. Emily was talking with Rossi. Kevin and Sharpe were dancing together, Anderson and Gina were sitting at a table drinking and Hotch, Beth, Strauss and Sandy were off to the side taking pictures.

"This is so dorky," signed Catherine.

"Yeah it is," agreed Spencer.

"I'm a little sad that I never went through with the big wedding now," signed Catherine. Spencer looked down at her and shook his head.

"We did promise your dad that he would see you in a white dress someday...maybe we could renew our vows someday and have all this. If you want to," signed Spencer. Catherine stood up on her tip toes and kissed him on the cheek.

"I would like that," signed Catherine.

"Hey Pretty Boy if your aren't going to dance with your lady than hand her over," called Morgan. Spencer shook his head and he took Catherine's hand and they went out to the dance floor and held her close while they danced.

…...

"So the home visit went well," said Rossi. Emily took a sip of her wine and looked over to where Jody was playing with Jack. They looked so cute together.

"Yeah. We had our last home visit last weekend and I'm just waiting for a court date," said Emily.

"How is she adjusting?" asked Rossi.

"Good...well for the most part. The girls in her class who used to be her friends haven't been the nicest. I'm hoping a new school will give her a fresh start," said Emily.

"Seems to be the year for fresh starts,"said Rossi. Emily nodded and looked over to see Hotch and Beth dancing together. Her fresh start hadn't been so fresh, the past and her actions still hung around her at times like a black cloud. Jody was her ray of sunshine, but at times even that was clouded. _Her father should be here with her...he'll never see her grow up or dance with her at her wedding...it's not fair._D.C used to feel like home and now she felt lost. Cylde was now offering her and in a way for Jody to truly get a fresh start. _Come to England love...I have a nice post for you running an Interpol office. I can even get your little girl into the best private school we have. You'll like it here. _She hadn't been to England in years, she had gone there for a summer before she went to college. It had just been her, no parents, no one looking over her shoulder, no one telling her what to do or how to act. She hadn't had that sort of freedom in years.

_Could I leave again? _It would be different this time, it would be of her own chosing, she could say goodbye this time and hopefully this time they wouldn't be mad at her. She would miss them, god she would miss them so much, but she felt so odd since coming back. It was like she was trying to fit a puzzle piece into a place that didn't fit. It had been so hard to come back and try to find her life again and even than it didn't feel like _her _life. Her life had ended on a floor in Boston and now this person was trying to be the person who had died in Boston.

"What's going on up there?" asked Rossi.

"Jody and Jack seem to getting along really well. I was debating locking her up at sixteen and not letting her out till thirty, but I might have to step that up," teased Emily.

"What is else is going on up there?" asked Rossi. Emily looked at the older man and just shook her head.

"I hate the fact we can't keep anything from each other. I don't belong here," admitted Emily. Rossi took a sip of his drink and Emily went on. "I love you all so much and I was so happy that I got to come home, but it doesn't feel like I've really come back. I don't fit here anymore."

"Yes you do," countered Rossi.

"Why did you walk away from the BAU when you did?" asked Emily.

"I wasn't happy anymore. I felt like a rat on a wheel going nowhere fast and I knew that I just needed to walk away...I was also offered a ton of money to write about my work so I took a step back. I just needed a moment to see my life and where it was going," said Rossi.

"I thought I could just walk back into this life and everything would be ok. It hasn't...it's been so hard at times Dave to just try being myself again and I don't even know who I am anymore. I miss being me," said Emily quickly wiping her eyes.

"You are an amazing person and I'm lucky to know you," said Rossi.

"Mommy...mommy...come dance with me," cried Jody running up to her. Emily smiled at her.

"You want to dance with me? You think you can keep up with me?" Emily took Jody's hand and they went out to the dance floor. Rossi shook his head and watched them all dance. Strauss came over to him sipping her water.

"So have you talked to Bryan yet?" asked Rossi.

"We did last night. He's hurt, but he doesn't want to fight anymore. I feel guilty though about how I've treated him though over the last few years. He didn't deserve how I treated him. We're planning on sitting the kids down and talking to them next week. Thank you for listening to me," said Strauss.

"Well if you are going to divorce someone you might as well talk to the master of divorces," said Rossi. Strauss looked out at JJ dancing with Will and Spencer dancing with Catherine.

"They make being happy look so easy," she said.

"That's because they don't know when to quit," said Rossi.

Ep's used-Hit/Run


	22. Chapter twenty one

Chapter twenty-one

"Woot! Dirty Thirty!" said/signed Garcia hugging Catherine. Catherine gave Spencer a look and he shook his head. After all this time together she should know better. She had wanted to have a peaceful birthday dinner with Andrew and Erin. Savannah offered to babysit Abby so they could go out to dinner and talk about the adoption with Catherine's parents. However, when they got to the restaurant they were ambushed by Garcia, Morgan and Emily. JJ and Will were taking two weeks off and taking Henry to Disney World and to have some sort of honeymoon. Hotch and Rossi were out of town doing a consult.

"Happy Birthday Mama," said/signed Morgan coming up and giving her hug.

"Thank you," signed Catherine. Andrew came up to his daughter and looked at her.

"Thirty years ago was one of the best days of my life. Happy Birthday sweetie," signed Andrew and he gave Catherine a hug. A hostess came over to them and showed to a back room that somehow Garcia had managed to get somehow and had decorated in white and silver streamers and balloons. Garcia placed a tiara on Catherine's head and she gave Spencer another look that was so much like the look Abby gave him when she was not amused.

"Sit here birthday girl and first drink is on me," said/signed Emily

"I'm still breastfeeding. I can't drink," signed Catherine. Emily rolled her eyes.

"I swear once you wean that baby I'm taking you out and getting you hammered," teased Emily. Catherine took a sip of her water, she was still on the fence about keeping up the breastfeeding so she could breastfeed the baby. Dinner was ordered and Garcia teased Catherine without mercy about how she was still the youngest in their group and still looked like she was high school.

"It was so funny when we take her out, she gets carded like six times and that's after we get in the club," said/signed Garcia to Andrew.

"Was that an issue in Tokyo? I swear the look on Spencer's face when he got pocket dialed when you were out in Tokyo was priceless," said/signed Emily. Catherine just shook her head and Andrew gave her a hug.

"Well all those days are over right mom," said/signed Andrew.

"Oh I'm sure daddy could handle Abby for one night and we'll sneak you out," said/signed Emily.

"Better do it while you still only have one," said/signed Garcia. Spencer gave Garcia a look that was not missed by Morgan.

"What was that about?" asked Morgan.

"What?" asked Spencer.

"Nothing," said Garcia quickly and she pounded her drink, her face turning pink. Emily looked between them and than back at Catherine.

"Are you hiding something from us?" Catherine sighed, Spencer told her that Garcia knew and that JJ knew. They might as well tell everyone else now since the papers had been turned in and they were waiting for a court date.

"Spencer and I have decided to adopt Savannah's baby," said/signed Catherine. Emily looked at Catherine and Spencer stunned and than she gave Catherine a huge hug.

"Wow...oh that is great," said/signed Emily.

"Congrats man," said/signed Morgan.

"Dad?" asked Catherine studying her father.

"You know what it is yet?" he asked.

"It's a boy," said/signed Spencer. Andrew leaned over and gave Catherine a hug, but the look he gave her stated there was more he wanted to say. _This is why I wanted a private dinner,_ thought Catherine.

…..._  
><em>They had dinner, Catherine was amused that Garcia and Morgan got her three purses since finding out she only had one and Emily got her gift card for a shoe store and things were wrapping up and were getting ready to leave when Andrew tapped her on the arm.

"You mind going for a walk with me?" he asked.

"No," signed Catherine. She went up to Spencer and told him that she was going for a walk with Andrew. She said goodbye to everyone and thank you to everyone who came, Emily gave her a hug.

"I'm still taking you out to lunch and you can watch me drink," teased Emily. Catherine gave her another hug. Emily seemed to be a little out of sorts since JJ's wedding and Catherine was going to have a talk with her, as soon as she talked to her father. Catherine grabbed her sweater and followed her father out. They made sure Erin was in a cab taking her back to the hotel before starting their walk. They walked for awhile before coming to a park and sitting down.

"Say what's on your mind," signed Catherine.

"You ready for another baby so soon?" asked Andrew.

"I'm scared...but I think I'm ready for this. I never thought I would have kids," signed Catherine.

"Why not?" asked Andrew.

"Because of who I am." Andrew shook his head.

"You and Spencer are amazing people and I am very proud of both of you. Your children...be it Abby or this one or any children you and Spencer decided to have are lucky to have you as parents," signed Andrew. Catherine nodded and he went on. "You and Spencer are kind people, my concern is you two getting hurt in all this. Nothing is set in stone."

"I know that and honestly that is the thing that scares me the most about doing this. If Savannah were to change her mind and decides she wants to keep him or she wants someone else to raise him, those are her rights until the courts agree he's ours...and even than it can change. I'm worried about loving this child as much as I do Abby and him being taken away." Andrew leaned over and gave her a hug.

"Like I said anyone who has you and Spencer for a parent is very lucky. Being a parent is always terrifying no matter what."

…...

"Come on Pretty Boy I'll give you a ride," said Morgan as Spencer watched Catherine and Andrew walk down the street. Spencer picked up the box with Catherine's gifts in it and got in Morgan's car. The ride was silent for a few blocks until Morgan spoke up.

"So you and Catherine get tired of trying or did she not want to go through nine months again?" asked Morgan. Spencer gave him a look.

"It was neither of those reason. Savannah asked us if we would be willing to adopt the baby and Catherine and I talked about it and we agreed to it," said Spencer.

"You guys sure you aren't biting off more than you can chew? You do remember what we do for a living and Abby is still a baby afterall?"

"I am aware that Catherine is going to be doing a lot of single parenting and we have done a lot of talking about this. She's already put in her papers for an extended leave to be home with the children when I'm not there. I know what we're doing seems crazy, but we want to do this." Spencer was quiet for a few moments before speaking again. "I never thought this would be my life."

"What do you mean kid?"

"I never thought I would have a family...my own personal experience with family was disappointing to say the least. At times it seems surreal that I wake in the morning married to my best friend and that I have a family with her. I know what it's like to not have a family and if I can give someone else a chance at having a family I want to do it." Morgan nodded.

"If anyone deserves a chance at a good family it's you kid. You remind me of my dad," said Morgan and Spencer looked at him. He knew how much Morgan looked up to his late father. "My dad grew up without a dad too and he was always so devoted to us...he could work three shifts back to back and still somehow stay awake to watch my games or my sister's school play or find time to make my mom dinner before she went into work. I know that you and Cat have had your rough patches, but you two have stuck it out and I know how much you love Cat and Abby. If anyone is going to give this baby a good life it's you two" said Morgan. Morgan parked in front of the apartment building.

"Thank you," said Spencer and Morgan knew it was more than for the ride.

"See ya Monday," said Morgan. Spencer got out of the car and headed up the apartment. When he got up there he found Savannah sitting with Abby and playing with her.

"Roll me the ball," said/signed Savannah. Abby pushed the ball back and she started laughing. Spencer sat the box of gifts down and came into the room behind Abby. He tapped her on the shoulder and she looked up at him and smiled.

"Da...da," she signed and Spencer picked her up. She was starting to pick up signing faster now and Spencer gave her a kiss on the head.

"How was she?" asked Spencer.

"I had to give her some baby aspirin after you guys left. She kept rubbing her face and whining, but after that she was fine," said Savannah picking herself up off the floor. Spencer rubbed Abby's head, she had teeth coming in and was whiny and almost inconsolable at times.

"Where's Cat?" asked Savannah.

"She went on a walk with her father," said Spencer. He sat down on the sofa with Abby, she whined and Spencer sat her down on the floor and handed her the ball. Abby took it, rolled it away and she grabbed at the coffee table and was trying to pull herself up. Spencer fought to urge to pick her up and place her in her walker so she wouldn't hurt herself. _She needs to do this, she working on her motor skills and this is a good thing._ Abby grunted and fell back to the floor when she couldn't get a grip.

"She's getting more determined to do that," said Savannah. Spencer shook his head and watched her look at him like he was the reason she couldn't get her grip on the table. Spencer got down on the floor with her and helped her stand.

"Better?" asked Spencer and she grinned at him. He placed her hands on the table and held on to her so she could stand. He let go slowly so she wouldn't notice and held on by herself. "That's my girl." Savannah shook her head.

"So what did you get Catherine for her birthday?" asked Savannah.

"I'll give it to her when she gets home," said Spencer.

"Do I need ear plugs," she teased and Spencer gave her a look. "Joking...geez." Savannah went to her room to study for her finals living him and Abby alone in the living room. Abby realized that she was standing alone and went to move when she fell down on her butt and she looked at him confused about what happened. Spencer picked her up again and hugged her, at times it was still hard to believe how old she was. He shook his head and picked up the ball.

"You want this?" asked Spencer. He handed her ball which she rolled right back to him. "So you like this game huh?" He kept playing with her until Catherine walked in the door. She came into the living room and Abby let out a scream of happiness and started crawling quickly to her mother and begging to be picked up. Catherine picked up the baby and hugged her, Abby returned the favor, by pulling at Catherine's hair and giggling about it.

"She's really into hair pulling now isn't she?" asked Spencer wincing has Catherine took her hair out of Abby's hands.

"You get used to it," she signed and pulled her hair back. She sat Abby back down on the floor and she crawled over to her toy bin and started just pulling stuff out at random. Spencer grinned at Abby as she tossed toys on the floor.

"She never gets bored doing that," signed Catherine sitting down on the floor next to him.

"She'll wear herself out soon," signed Spencer. Abby soon found two blocks in the bottom of the bin and started playing with those. Catherine fished some more blocks out of the bin and showed Abby how to put them together. The baby laughed at her mother, took the blocks from her and started gumming on them.

"Are those clean?" asked Spencer and Catherine just shook her head.

"She'll be fine," signed Catherine picking up the toys she had tossed on the floor and placing them back in the bin. After a few minutes Abby sat her blocks down and she started rubbing her eyes and yawning. She was clearly fighting sleep now.

"You want to get her ready for bed?" asked Catherine. Spencer picked her up and took her into her bedroom and changed her diaper and got her into a pair of pj's. Spencer sat down with Abby in the rocking chair and started rocking her to sleep. Abby placed her head on his shoulder and Spencer felt her start to drift off to sleep. It was about this time a year ago that he and Catherine were separated due to his attitude and distance he placed between them after Emily 'died'. It was hard to believe that a year ago he couldn't feel anything towards Catherine or towards her pregnancy other than fear and worry. Now, a year later he was holding his daughter and couldn't imagine not being in her life. She was sound asleep and was holding onto his sweater. Spencer stood up and placed her in the crib. Catherine came into the room and looked at Abby who was out like a light and than at Spencer who had that far away look on his face

"You ok?" Catherine had known him for almost her whole life and she could tell when he was mentally beating himself up over something that had happened in their past.

"A year ago I was sitting outside of Saul's house trying to work up the nerve to talk to you and to tell you that I was sorry for how I was for everything," signed Spencer. Catherine looked up at him and shook her head.

"I have to say that was not one of my better birthdays. This is much better than last year and I have you to thank for that. You alright?"asked Catherine. Spencer looked down at her and hugged her, he knew Catherine and that she had forgiven him the second he came back to her. It was just how she was with him.

"Yeah, Happy Birthday. Your present is in the office," he signed. Catherine followed him into the office and they sat down at the keyboard together. It had been awhile since they had been able to sit down together and for him to teach her.

"We're not going to have much time to do this once we have him...he needs a name. I feel silly just calling him...him," admitted Catherine.

"What do you want to call him?" asked Spencer.

"I got to give Abby her name, you should give him his name," signed Catherine. Spencer nodded and looked down at the keyboard and remember why he bought this, the person who moved him to buy the keyboard. He got a letter from his mother once in awhile about his progress, he was getting better at being touched by people, including her. He understood what it was like to be misundertood, to be different...

"Sammy," signed Spencer. "You pick a middle name."

"Duncan. It was my grandfather's name. Sammy Duncan Reid. Do you like it?" asked Catherine.

"I do. You ready?" asked Spencer. Catherine nodded and Spencer placed her hands on the keys and started to play her through the song he had picked out. He had found the sheet music for the song Garcia had played for them after they got married. Catherine looked at the sheet music and smiled reading the lyrics and remembering the song.

"You're getting better at this," signed Spencer after they had been playing for about an hour.

"I have a very good teacher," signed Catherine giving him a kiss. She looked down at the keyboard and started picking out the keys to last song he had taught her, the Glasgow Love Theme. He watched her play through the piece without missing a note. Spencer couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of pride in her. He had taught her, but she was the one who learned it and wasn't too bad at it. _I love how you never quit and keep pushing yourself to do new things._ Spencer kissed her on top of the head. Catherine took his hand and they went to bed. The next morning when he got up Savannah just shook her head looking at him and muttered something about thin walls and needing better headphones.

…...

"Thank god for half days," signed Catherine sitting down across from Emily for lunch. Her classes had ended early today since it was final's week. They were having lunch near campus so when they were done, Catherine could go get Abby and head home.

"I'm slumming and taking a long lunch. We'll have to go shoe shopping this weekend with our girls," signed Emily.

"So you have your final court date next week?" asked Catherine.

"Yeah. I'm nervous, but I think it's going to go well. I just want it done so we can move on. I think it's going to be good for both us. I never thought I would look forward to coming home at the end of the day and having someone call me mommy," admitted Emily.

"I know how it feels," signed Catherine and she watched Emily pick at her fries and Catherine had a feeling that their was something Emily wasn't telling her.

"You ok? I mean I know things have been crazy lately with everything that last few months...but we really haven't had a chance to really talk. Are you really ok?" Emily sighed and pushed her food away.

"I got offered a job in London and I want to take it." Catherine's eyes got wide and she took a sip of her drink.

"Doing what?" asked Catherine.

"Running an office for Interpol. I wouldn't have to travel anymore. I could have a nine to five life, Jody would have a chance for an amazing education and we could both start over fresh," signed Emily.

"How long have you been thinking about this?" asked Catherine stunned.

"Honestly...for a very long time now. It's just been hard coming back to this and trying to find me again and I really don't know who I am anymore. Once the courts give me custody of Jody, I'm going to put in my two weeks and spend the summer packing up and getting Jody and myself moved to London." Catherine started twisting her ring and trying to find what to say.

"I'm sorry," signed Catherine. "I know that everything has been off since you came back with your job and me having Abby and that we really haven't had time to be as close as we were before you left and I'm sorry about that." Emily shook her head.

"Oh honey no. You, Garcia and JJ were the only three to be ok with me coming back at first and I know how hard it was with you and Spencer when I 'died' and you didn't have to be my friend again considering what I could have cost you. You trusted me to be a god parent to your daughter and you have no idea what that means to me. Everyone has been for too good to me considering how much I hurt I caused. It's me. I don't fit in here anymore, it's just hard to explain," signed Emily quickly wiping her eyes. Catherine shook her head and wiped her own eyes.

"Does anyone else know yet?" asked Catherine.

"The guy I took the job from and Rossi sort of knows. I have to say you are taking it really well. I expected more crying," teased Emily and Catherine laughed.

"You want crying and fits you have to go to Penny. It doesn't mean I won't miss you though. I really will miss you," signed Catherine. Emily reached over and squeezed Catherine's hand.

"All this means is that you will just have to pack up Dr. Reid and your wonderful little babies to come see me in London. I know that this will put you in the middle, but can we keep this between us for now. I'm planning on tell them soon...after the court date." signed Emily.

" I will keep this from Spencer if we get Abby and we go shoe shopping right now," signed Catherine.

"I have to go back to work," signed Emily.

"You're going to quit soon and I want my daughter to have her first shoe shopping trip with her godmother. What do you say?" asked Catherine. Emily grabbed her phone and texted Hotch that she was going to be off the rest of the day.

…...

The following week Emily found herself sitting with Jody outside of courtroom waiting to be called in.

"You ok?" asked Jody her legs dangling off the bench.

"Yeah I'm ok. I just don't like waiting. How about after this we go get some ice cream?" asked Emily.

"With all the toppings?" asked Jody.

"All the toppings you want," said Emily. Jody leaned her head against Emily and Emily stroked her head.

"Emily Prentiss," called the clerk and she stood up with Jody and they went into the court room. Jody's social worker, Kristen was there and one of the school therapist from Jody's school was there too. The judge was an older black man and he noticed how nervous Jody looked and smiled at her.

"You must be Jody," said the judge and she nodded. "It's ok sweetie we're just going to talk a little bit. My name is Judge Soha, why don't you take a seat." Emily and Jody sat down on the first bench while the school therapist talked about how Jody had been adpating since her father's death and living with Emily and it seemed to be good. Kristen went up next and went over her report of the home visit.

"We feel that Ms. Prentiss's home is a good fit for Jody. Despite her job taking her away for several days at a time Jody appears very happy and secure in the home," said Kristen wrapping up the report.

"Thank you," said Judge Soha. He looked at Emily and Jody and he gave Jody a small smile. "Why don't you tell me what you like about living with Emily?" Jody took a deep breath and Emily felt her little hand shaking in hers.

"It's alright," said Emily.

"She's really nice to me. When she's home we have dinner together and we do all sorts of stuff together. She helps me with my homework and she's a really good mom to me," said Jody.

"And when she's not home?" asked Soha.

"I miss her a lot, but she calls and reads me stories over the phone each night," said Jody. Soha nodded.

"I have say I am impressed with the home life you've created for her in such a short amount of time," said Soha.

"Thank you," said Emily trying not to pick her nails.

"However there are some issues in your past that worry me and..." started Soha.

"Sorry I'm late." Emily turned and saw Hotch was standing there.

"And you are?" asked Soha.

"My name is Aaron Hotchner. I'm Emily's supervisor with the BAU. I know Emily's life hasn't been the most normal especially some of the situations that have arisen over the past year. I have only seen one other person willing to give up so much to child. Emily has recently been offered a job in London running an office for Interpol which would give her and Jody both a chance for a normal home life. Emily wouldn't have to travel anymore, the job would be nine to five. Weekends and holidays off. Jody would be given a chance for an excellent overseas private education and she would be with a woman she considers her mother," said Aaron. Soha sighed and Emily was shocked that Hotch knew about her job offer. She hadn't told anyone other than Catherine. _Damn it Clyde,_ thought Emily. Soha sighed and he was silent for a long time.

"Do you plan on taking this job Ms. Prentiss?" asked Soha.

"I do. I think Jody and I both need a chance at a fresh start and this would be the best for us," said Emily. Soha got quiet again and Emily could feel Jody squeezing her hand hard.

"I am going to approve custody. I do want another home visit before you move to London to make sure things are still on track," said Soha.

"Of course," said Emily letting out the breath she wasn't aware she was holding. Soha dismissed them after he gave Kristen the paperwork to give to Emily confirming Jody's adpotion and the paper work to change her last name.

"Congrats," said Kristen hugging Jody and squeezing Emily on the shoulder. Jody hugged her tightly and it took Emily a second to hug her back just as hard.

"You're my mom now?" asked Jody.

"Yeah," said Emily barely keeping herself from crying.

"We can have ice cream now?" asked Jody.

"Can I come?" asked Hotch.

"Um...sure," said Emily. They stopped to turn in the paperwork with the clerk and went down the street to an ice cream shop near the park. Jody finished her ice cream and went off to play on the swing set. Hotch and Emily sat on a bench watching her.

"So do I still have to put in my two weeks notice?" asked Emily.

"I thought about putting in the paperwork next week. I knew you were going to take the job," said Hotch.

"How?" asked Emily.

"You told me how much you loved London in the spring time. This will be good for her," said Hotch watching Jody trying to push herself higher. "It will be good for both of you."

"It will...I'll miss you," said Emily.

"You know if you ever have a bad day you can call me," said Hotch. He took her hand and squeezed it hard. "I meant what I said. The only other person who ever gave up so much for a child was Haley." Emily looked at Hotch stunned and they went back to watching Jody play.

Notes-Hey look what I found on my jump drive...life has a way of taking over, but I fully intend on finishing this...maybe two more chapters to round it out. I seriously had writer's block watching this season past season...let's all pretend it didn't happen.

Love it, hate it, review it.


	23. Chapter twenty-two

"Ok just one more," said/signed Garcia and Savannah tried not to groan and adjusted her cap.

"I don't know if I can take another photo," she said/signed looking at Spencer and Catherine. Catherine adjusted Abby in her arms and she hoped they could get through the ceremony without her having a fit. Today was Savannah's graduation and she was supposed to give a speech as the Salutation of her class.

"Garcia. Please the flash is starting to hurt my eyes," protested Spencer. Garcia sighed and put the camera away.

"Alright. Beside I need to save room for the speech," said/signed Garcia.

"Thank you," said/signed Savannah.

"Come on it would look bad if we were late," signed Catherine heading to the car to get Abby in her car sear.

"Catherine said you were the Valedictorian of your class. Did you give a speech?" asked Savannah.

"Her dad made me go to Commencement, but I declined to give the speech," said Spencer.

"To late to turn them down now," said Savannah and she winced a little and rubbed her midsection.

"You ok?" asked Spencer.

"I think he kicked me. Here," said Savannah and she grabbed his hand and placed it on her midsection and Spencer felt that familiar push against his hand. It was a good solid kick and he couldn't help but smile a little. There was a flash and he fought the urge to sigh.

"Sorry it was too cute to not have a picture," said Garcia. Savannah just shrugged and headed to the car. Spencer just gave Garcia a look and she just smiled.

"You'll thank me later," she said and went to get in her car. Spencer got in the passenger seat of Catherine's car and they started the drive the school. They got to the school and Savannah headed to the waiting area with the other students. Catherine got Abby out of the car and into her stroller. Spencer noticed JJ was walking towards them with Henry.

"Will is trying to find us some seats. Where's Savannah, I wanted to get some pictures," said JJ.

"Trust me, Garcia got plenty back at the apartment," said Spencer.

"Hi. Aunt Kitty," said/signed Henry. Catherine bent down and gave Henry a kiss. Henry hugged her back and turned his attention to Abby in the stroller.

"Hi Abby," said/signed Henry and he started to play with her.

"Come on sweetie. Let's go find daddy," said/signed JJ and they started walking together. They found Will and he had gotten them seats near the front.

"I brought a video camera," said Will. Garcia joined them and she gave Henry a hug.

"I just called Morgan and he and Emily have everything set up at the house so we can head there after," said/signed Garcia taking her seat. After a few minutes the music started and the kids started to file in Garcia and Will got their cameras out and start filming and taking pictures. Catherine took Spencer's hand and squeezed it. He looked at her and she smiled at him. It was an odd sense of pride watching Savannah go up at take a seat on the platform with the Valedictorian and the other teachers. She gave them a small smile and a little wave from the stage.

The Principal made his opening remarks about the class of 2012 and he introduced Savannah to give the first speech. She stood up and she took a deep breath to compose herself.

"Writer Dan Savage states that we have two families in our lives. We have our biological families, the people we were born too. Than we have our logical families, the people we find in our lives that we choose to be our family. While we've been here we've been trying to stay with our biological families, but we've also been trying to find our logical families too. We have become a logical family here. The important thing is that we have some sort of family in our lives. Family, be it the one we're born to or the one we choose to have is going to help us not just for the next four years, but for the rest of our lives. We need to take a moment and look back on the family that helped us get to this point and be thankful for them. Be it biological or logical just thank them. Thank you," said/signed Savannah taking her seat.

Spencer looked over at Catherine and she was clearly trying not to cry. Garcia looked ready to take a picture of them and Spencer shook his head. He was pictured out. The Valedictorian gave his speech and than the Principal started calling up students to get their degrees.

"Savannah Danielle Conlley," said the Principal. Savannah got up and took her diploma and waved at them again. They all stood up and cheered for her. She blushed and went back to her seat. The rest of the class got their diplomas, closing remarks were made and the students were dismissed. It took awhile to find Savannah in the crowd, she was taking some pictures with her friends and they waited for her to say goodbye to her friends. She saw them and said goodbye to the group she was with and walked over to them.

"You did a really good job and we're proud of you," signed Catherine giving her a hug.

"Congrats honey," said JJ hugging her. Abby started whining in her stroller.

"I think it's time for lunch," said/signed Spencer.

"Good. I'm hungry," said/signed Savannah. She took off her cap and gown once they got to the car. Savannah was wearing black pants and a pink shirt under her gown, JJ had been nice enough to pass down some of her maternity clothes to Savannah since they were about the same height and build.

"Hey where are we going? All the good dinners are back the other way," said Savannah tapping Spencer on the shoulder.

"It's a new place just outside the District," said Spencer. Savannah gave him a look and leaned back in her seat. They drove to Derek's house and Savannah gave them another look.

"This is...I told you I didn't want a party," protested Savannah.

"Well you told us and we told Garcia and she doesn't listen. Emily and Morgan put this together. So if you want to bail we can," signed Catherine after she parked the car. Savannah just sighed.

"It would be rude to do that," said/signed Savannah getting out of the car. Catherine looked at Spencer and frowned.

"I think she really didn't want a party," signed Catherine.

"We'll sneak her out in an hour," signed Spencer. They got Abby out of the backseat and headed inside. Garcia, Will, JJ and Henry were already there. Emily was there with Jody.

"Morgan is cooking things over fire," said Emily cutting cake. Savannah was looking around nervously and Garcia hugged her.

"For a job well done," she said. Savannah just shook her head and Spencer could tell she really didn't want to be here.

"Excuse me," she said and Savannah quickly walked to the bathroom and the shut the door hard. Garcia looked worried.

"She was happy a little bit ago right?" asked Emily.

"I'll go talk to her," said Spencer handing Abby to Catherine. He headed to the bathroom and knocked before going in.

"Savannah?" he asked. She was sitting on the edge of the tub wiping her eyes. "Do you want to go home?"

"I tried to call my mom the other day. To see if she was coming today and her phone is disconnected. The neighbors said she moved last week and didn't leave an address. I don't know why I wanted to talk to her again considering all the crap she said. It's stupid I know," said Savannah.

"No it's not stupid to want your parent Savannah," said Spencer.

"I feel stupid," said Savannah.

"It was like you said today we have our biological families and let me tell you my biological family was very disappointing at times and I still love them. But, my logical family...you know I didn't consider them family at first. I thought I didn't want or need a family, but now I can't imagine my life without them. I know it hasn't been easy for you, but we're all proud of you. You're a good kid and I know that it hasn't been easy the last few months...trust me if does get better," said Spencer.

"I just wished she cared about me the way you guys did.," said Savannah wiping her eyes. Spencer thought back to what Andrew had told him once when he was dealing with his dad.

"Just remember that they are the ones who are missing out and in the long one they are going to be the ones who are going to be hurt," said Spencer. Savannah sighed Spencer gave her hug. There was a soft knock on the door.

"You guys ok?" asked Garcia through the door.

"We'll be out in a minute," said Spencer. He looked at Savannah. "If you want we can go home." Savannah shook her head.

"Nah...you all were nice enough to do this for me and that cake did look delicious," teased Savannah. Spencer had to help her up and he opened the door for her. They went back into the living room and Savannah went over to Garcia and hugged her.

"Thank you very much for doing this. It's stupid hormones," said/signed Savannah. Garcia smiled and gave her a kiss on the head.

"It's alright. Come on...let's get you and your hormones some cake," said/signed Garcia. Emily smiled and handed Savannah some cake.

"Catherine said you liked dark chocolate," said Emily. Spencer looked over at Catherine who was sitting with Abby. Abby was holding on to Catherine's legs...she was getting better at standing on her own. Catherine looked over at him and smiled. Garcia was taking Savannah outside and he sat down next to Catherine.

"Is she ok?" asked Catherine.

"Yeah. She was upset about Alexa moving and not telling her," said/signed Spencer. Emily rolled her eyes and handed Catherine some cake to feed to Abby.

"Geez," said Emily. She looked outside to where JJ and Will had taken Henry and Jody outside to play with Cloony. Savannah was laughing at some Morgan and Garcia said.

"You ok?" asked Spencer. Emily was looking outside and her whole demeanor seemed to had changed.

"Yeah. Yeah I'm fine," said Emily. She went back to the kitchen to get something to drink and wondered how long she could put off telling them that she was leaving.

…...

"So than all I hear is that "Yes he could come to phone right now with a very special message that my mother..." and than the phone went to voice mail," said/signed Savannah. Everyone started laughing and Spencer shook his head.

"I did listen to that message afterward. I have to say that I have been called a lot of names in my time, but Dr. Douchewaffle does stand out," said/signed Spencer.

"What's a douchewaffle?" asked Jody.

"A very icky waffle," said Emily and she gave Spencer a look and he turned a little pink.

"So what did you do with the Peeps?" asked Savannah.

"You know that Peeps make great flameables," said/signed Morgan. They all laughed and Spencer noticed that Emily seemed to a little spacy and distracted.

"What a waste of good candy," said/signed JJ.

"It was really old," said/signed Savannah.

"I just wish I could have seen it," said/signed Emily. Jody finished her lunch and asked if she could go outside and play with Cloony.

"Sure honey," said Emily and Jody headed outside calling Cloony.

"Maybe you can bring Lilo over here and they can play together," said Morgan getting the door for her.

"Do you think you and Cloony can come visit us when we go to London?" asked Jody. Emily's face went white and everyone started looking at her. Catherine was a loss since she couldn't read Jody's lips. She saw Emily tell Jody to go outside.

"What's going on?" asked Catherine out loud. Emily sighed and gathered her thoughts.

"I was offered a job to run an office for Interpol...in London. I decided to take it," said/signed Emily.

"Why?" asked Garcia hiding her tears. "I thought you were happy to be back here."

"I am...it's just...I love you guys so much and it's me. I keep trying to fit in back to this old life and I don't. You all have been so good to me and I am going to miss you guys so much. But this would give me a chance to start over on my own terms...for me and Jody to start over," said/signed Emily. Catherine already knew and she kept her face calm. She looked over at Spencer and saw he was twisting his wedding ring and looked at the table.

"Are you really that unhappy?" asked Spencer.

"It's not just being unhappy. I'm not me anymore," said/signed Emily looking at Spencer and a part of him did understand. When Tobias killed him there had been a part of him who had changed and no matter what he did he could never have that part of himself back.

"We're going to miss you," said Morgan and he gave Emily a hug. Catherine reached under the table and took his hand. Spencer squeezed it back and knew that no matter what changed in his life this would be the constant. _The one thing I can always count on._

…...

They headed home shortly after that. Abby was getting fussy and she needed a nap. They went inside and Catherine put Abby in her crib with her pacifier and she was out a few moments later. Spencer went into her bedroom and at the sleeping baby. He reached in and brushed her hair back.

"Can we talk?" asked Catherine.

"I know what Emily meant about not being herself anymore. After Tobias...there was something missing in me and it hasn't come back. It was something I tried to run away from," signed Spencer. Spencer took her hand and he rubbed her wedding ring with his thumb.

"I had something here to help me start over. I think she just needs to step back and understand that even though that part of you is gone, you can start over. You won't ever be the same again, but you can become better from it," signed Spencer. Catherine hugged him.

"At least this time we know that she's going to be ok," said Catherine softly. Spencer looked over at Abby, she still slept with her arms slightly bent and thrown over her head.

"I will never understand how she can sleep like," signed Spencer. The doorbell light went off and Catherine went to go get the door. Spencer reached into the crib and brushed her hair back. "You will never know how much you mean to me. I love you," said Spencer and he kissed her forehead. Catherine came back in the room and looked stunned.

"Saul's here and he wants to talk to Savannah. They just stepped out for a walk," signed Catherine. Saul's family had gone to Virginia for a family reunion which is why why weren't at the graduation.

"That's good ," said/signed Spencer. He covered Abby up with her blanket and Catherine took his hand.

"It's not good bye...she'll see us later," said Catherine. Spencer nodded and recalled standing with Catherine at the airport before she left for Japan and her telling him just that. It was true and he hoped it wasn't goodbye.

…...

"So how are you feeling? Are they treating you ok?" asked Saul.

"They only beat me once a week now...it's a joke. You should know that," said/signed Savannah seeing the look on his face. Saul sighed.

"I just worry about you," muttered Saul. Savannah's took his hand and they sat down.

"I promise you that I'm fine," said Savannah. Now that they were sitting face to face they could talk.

"You aren't mad anymore?" asked Saul and Savannah shook her head.

"I was never mad at you. I was hurt that you didn't understand me and where I was coming from. That you really didn't even want to talk about it with me," said Savannah. Saul nodded.

"I was an asshole about this I know. I was hurt too," said Saul.

"I guess we both kind of suck at this," said Savannah and Saul laughed.

"So what do we do now?" asked Saul.

"Spencer and Catherine said we could see the baby when we wanted too. If you wanna see him they would be cool with it," said Savannah.

"Do you wanna see him?" asked Saul.

"I don't know. It's hard to explain. I know biological this is our baby, but it already feels like it's their baby," said Savannah.

"So do you think that maybe we can be friends again?" asked Saul. Savannah took his hand and smiled.

"I never wanted to stop being friends," said Savannah. Saul smiled and squeezed her hand.

"Do you think maybe we could have what Spencer and Catherine have someday?" asked Saul.

"Maybe."


	24. Chapter twenty three

September 2012

Spencer felt someone tapping him on his shoulder and than shaking it.

"Spencer...Spencer...please wake up," said a voice. He jerked awake and saw that Savannah was standing over him looking worried and in tears.

"Are you alright?" he asked sitting up. His moving woke Catherine up and she clicked on the lamp.

"I think my water broke," said Savannah. Catherine knew that look and she got out of bed and started getting dressed. Savannah had been experiencing false labor on and off for the past few days now and her due date was about a week away.

"Do you know how far your contractions are?" asked Spencer getting out of bed.

"I...I lost track," said Savannah sounding panicked.

"It's alright. Take a deep breath and let me call Garcia so she can get here. Here sit down," said Spencer and had Savannah sit down. Spencer grabbed his phone and called Garcia while Catherine got their bag packed and than doubled checked to make sure Savannah had everything she needed in her bag. Spencer started timing Savannah's contractions and they were about fifteen minutes apart so they had time.

Garcia was at the apartment in less than twenty minutes looking slightly frazzled with her own overnight bag.

"How is she?" asked Garcia.

"Holding at fifteen minutes. Abby should stay asleep until about eight and if you want to take her to daycare they have you on file to drop her off and pick her up," signed Catherine.

"My peanut is staying with me. Call me when my new peanut shows up," said/signed Garcia. Spencer picked up their bags and headed out with Savannah who was trying not to cry.

"I know it hurts," said Catherine and she got in the backseat with Savannah while Spencer drove.

"It hurts so bad," whinned Savannah and Catherine stroked her hair and told her it was ok. Spencer was thankfully it was four am and not a lot of traffic. He let Catherine and Savannah out at the front and went to find a parking spot. He went back inside and was directed to the fifth floor. Savannah was already in a gown and in bed.

"Doctor should be here in a minute," signed Catherine. Savannah was looking up at the ceiling and was trying not to cry.

"You did this without drugs," asked Savannah bitting her lip. Catherine looked at Spencer and he nodded.

"Listen if you want something for the pain we want you to have something for it," said/signed Spencer and Savannah looked nervous.

"Are you sure...I know you are really anti meds," said/signed Savannah. They had told Savannah about Spencer's issues with narcotics in an effort to disclose everything about themselves to her.

"It's alright. If you need something just ask," said Catherine stroking Savannah's hair. The doctor came in and did an exam, Savannah was already six centimeters dilated.

"Well over half way there. Someone wants to meet you badly," teased the doctor. He suggested walking the halls to help her along. "Let's try to wait an hour before we give you something for the pain." He gave them all ID bracelets and left to do his rounds.

"I need to call Saul," said/signed Savannah and she started looking for her bag.

"I'll call Saul. Why don't you and Catherine go walk around the ward," said/signed Spencer. Catherine helped Savannah out of bed and helped her into a robe. They started walking down the hall and Spencer called and left Saul a message. Saul called about twenty minutes later and told them he was going to catch a train and be there as soon as he could.

About an hour later Savannah was dilated another centimeter and the nurse offered her something for the pain.

"Is it supposed to be going this fast?" asked Savannah worried.

"It all depends on the person sweetie. Do you want the spinal block or an epidural block?" asked the nurse.

"Ummm...I read that epidurals can be used for the whole time, but they can hurt the baby," said/signed Savannah worried.

"Well watch to make sure you don't have a drop in blood pressure which could lower the baby's heart rate. You'll also might need a catheter, but I had epirduals with all my kids and everything went fine," explained the nurse. Savannah looked nervous.

"Anything you want to do is ok. We're going to be here the whole time," said/signed Spencer.

"Can I have the epridual?" asked Savannah. The nurse called the anesthesiologist and they did a test run to see if Savannah would have any problems with the placement or medication before hooking her up.

"It's going to take about ten to twenty minutes before it kicks in. You'll be awake and alert all during the delivery and it's not going to slow anything down," said the nurse. She asked Catherine and Spencer to step out for a minute so they could hook up the catheter . She sent them back in and Savannah looked more relaxed.

"It just really hurt," said/signed Savannah.

"I know," signed Catherine taking her hand.

"Thank you for waiting till I was home," teased Spencer. Emily had left in July and it had taken sometime until they had found a replacement. He was surprised it had taken so long before they had contacted Alex Blake. Blake had worked at the BAU before a botched Amerithrax case. She stayed with the FBI as a Linguistics expert and worked at Georgetown as a Professor. She had Catherine come and talk to her class once or twice about the difference between Home-sign and traditional Sign Language. She had put them in contact with a doctor who would work with Abby on her speech.

It had taken sometime for the others to really warm up to her, they respected her professionally, but they were guarded about getting to close to her. Over the summer Morgan and Garica had gone with Emily and Jody to help with the move to London while Blake got settled into the BAU. Catherine and Emily had a regular Skype night every Thursday and were constantly e-mailing back and forth all the time. Emily had also promised to visit in October for Abby's first birthday.

"I'm surprised he's on time. I read that first borns tend to be overdue," said/signed Savannah.

"Abby was early by about two weeks," signed Catherine.

"She knew she was going to have awesome parents," said/signed Savannah and she winced has she felt another contraction come and go.

"I hope Saul gets here. He really wanted to see this," said/signed Savannah. Over the summer Saul and Savannah had managed to patch things up. While they weren't dating again they were close. Saul decided to transfer to a school in Chicago after this school year was over. Savannah had decided to go and stay with Saul's mother after she had the baby so she could rest until she went to Chicago for school. Morgan's family had offered her a place to stay since she was starting the term late. She had already started packing up her room and moving stuff to Saul's house. Specner could tell Catherine was putting on a brave face, but it was clear she was going to miss Savannah when she moved out. He would be lying if he said he wasn't going to miss her too.

They had their final home visits just last month and a court date was set for next week to finalize the adoption. They had both been so ungodly nervous during that last visit and even the case worker looked at them amused. She told them that unless they were hiding a meth lab under the sink she had already given them a recommendation of excellent, this was just a formality. They were going to have the adoption remain open in case Savannah and Saul wanted to see him. Catherine had planned to write them and send them pictures often.

Saul got there two hours later and it was another hour before Savannah was finally ready to push. The epridual was working, but they had lowered the dosage so Savannah could feel when to bear down.

"You are doing such a good job," said Saul giving her a kiss. Savannah gave him a really tired smile and she took his hand and squeezed as she pushed. Saul winced as she held his hand. Catherine gave Spencer a small grin as she wiped sweat off of Savannah's face. It was less than a year ago they had been here and she was so sure she couldn't go through with it.

"Ok honey we just need one more big push from you," said the doctor. Savannah nodded and reached for Spencer's hand as she went in for the final push. He took it as she bore down and started her pushing.

"Ooohhhhhh!" whined Savannah and a moment later he heard that familiar sound of a newborn wailing.

"Oh hello sweetie. Why you have a handsome little boy here," said the nurse as she cleaned him up. She wrapped him up and handed him over to Savannah. "Congratulations." Savannah took him and looked near tears holding him.

"Way to go Peaches," said Saul kissing her forehead. Savannah nodded and kissed the baby on his forehead.

"I love you so much," whispered Savannah and she looked at Spencer. She held the baby out to him. "You should hold him now." Saul nodded and Spencer took the baby and looked at him and smiled. He had Saul's dark hair, but Savannah's fair skin. His eyes were still closed and he was whining a bit. Spencer went over to Catherine and she handed the baby to her. He opened his eyes slowly and tried to focus on her face.

"Hello Sammy," said Catherine softly kissing him on the forehead. The doctor finished attending to Savannah and moved her to recover. Saul followed them as they wheeled her away. They went to follow her, but she insisted that they stay with the baby for now. Catherine looked torn about what she should do. They had already explained that they were adopting the baby and were here as Savannah's foster parents too. They took them to another recovery room to bond with the baby.

"We'll look after your daughter. We'll come back to examine the baby in a while. Congratulations," said the nurse. Catherine sat down with Sammy and starting rocking him.

"He is a handsome little boy," said Catherine softly brushing his hair back. Spencer sat down next to her and took his hand. He gripped it tight and tried to focus on them. He did seem to be able to hear them, Saul had lost part of his hearing due to meningitis when he was younger. He knew they would have to test his hearing. Catherine handed him over to Spencer and he kissed his forehead.

"Hi Sammy...hi. It's good to see you. Wait till you get to meet your sister," said Spencer. They had been introducing Abby to the idea of having a sibling. She kept pointing at Savannah's tummy and signing baby. A nurse came in an hour or so later to take him to the nursery.

Catherine went to check on Savannah while Spencer went to start calling people to let them know the baby was here. Catherine found Savannah was sound asleep and Saul was holding her hand.

"How's she doing?" asked Catherine.

"Tired, but the doctor said everything looked ok. How's Sammy?" asked Saul.

"He's good. They took him to the nursery to do some tests," signed Catherine sitting down. "You didn't get to hold him earlier...I should have asked if you wanted too. I just got caught up with everything. Do you want to come down to the nursery and see him later...hold him?" asked Catherine.

"I would like too. He's your son though. I know that now and you love him so much already...thank you," signed Saul.

"Someday when you are ready for this it is going to be the greatest moment of your life. I promise you that," signed Catherine. He reached over and hugged her hard, Catherine hugged him back. He soon fell asleep and Spencer came into the room and put his hand on her shoulder.

He had called Garcia and she would bring Abby by later on in the morning after she woke up. She would also call the rest for him later. Spencer hung up with Garcia and called his father and Catherine's father to let them know that Savannah had the baby. Her father was due out next month, but his father was going to catch the frist flight out to see them. He called Elisa and she planned to be there as soon as visiting hours started.

Spencer was going to wait to call his mother. He had told her that he and Catherine were going to adopt a baby and she seemed spectical about the idea at first, but after several long letters between them she seemed to have warmed up to the idea of them taking in a child. She figured if anyone could rear a child properly it would be her son. He sat down with her to fill her in on who would be coming to see them later on today. Catherine nodded and hugged him.

"Doctor says everything looks ok with Savannah. Saul would like to hold Sammy before we take him home," signed Catherine. Catherine put her head on his shoulder and dozed off and Spencer soon followed suit. A nurse came in with the baby a little while later and found all four of them asleep. She woke Savannah up first and asked if she wanted to hold the baby. She woke Saul up.

"You want to hold him?" asked Savannah. Saul took the baby and smiled at him.

"He looks like you...he kind of looks like Dr. Reid too. He's got that pale skin. Poor kid," teased Saul. Sammy started to fuss a bit and Saul gave him a kiss on the forehead and went to wake Catherine and Spencer up so they could be with their son.

…...

"Baby," signed Abby sitting on Spencer's lap while Catherine held Sammy in her arms. Abby leaned over and touched the baby's face. Abby looked back and forth between him and Catherine and she had the biggest smile on her face.

"Our baby," said/signed Spencer. Abby smiled and started squrimming in his arms. Catherine adjusted Sammy so Abby could also be in her lap and closer to the baby. Catherine kissed her and than she kissed Sammy. Garcia pulled out her camera and went to take a picture when Spencer gave her a look.

"Please no more pictures," pleaded Spencer.

"But...fine," said Garcia. They were in a small room next to Savannah's recovery room. Her friends were visiting her right now and they were seeing their vistors in this room. They were going to have the grandparents visit them here, but they had asked everyone else to wait until they got home tomorrow afternoon to visit "How's Savannah's doing?" asked Garcia.

"She's doing ok. Saul is at the apartment getting the rest of her things since she's being released tomorrow," said/signed Spencer. Sammy started whining and pushing against her. Spencer took Abby back and Catherine went and got a bottle Savannah had pumped earlier for them. She was going to pump while she was here and than start taking a drug to help dry up her milk. Catherine was going to try to breastfeed Sammy for as long as possible after this. Sammy took the bottle and started to drift off.

"I never thought I would love another man as much as Morgan, but your little man might take the cake," said/signed Garcia. Catherine burped the baby and handed her over to Garcia so she could hold him. They planned to stay here tonight with Sammy and they were going to have Abby here with them too. Garcia had offered to keep Abby overnight with her, but they wanted to try and have the whole family together.

"I just don't think you trust me to not spoil her rotten it's why you won't let me keep her overnight," said/signed Garcia as she handed Sammy back to Catherine.

"We trust you, but we would like a night together as a family," said/signed Spencer. Garcia nodded and gave him a kiss on head.

"Such a daddy," teases Garcia. She took her leave a little while later and Sammy drifted off to sleep. Abby kept pointing to the crib and asking to see the baby. Spencer pulled the bed over and let Abby look at Sammy. She was very intrested in seeing the baby and being near him.

"Baby is sleeping," said/signed Catherine. Abby signed that she was hungry and Spencer pulled one of her meals out of the diaper bag and sat her down to eat. Catherine went to check on Savannah and he sat with Abby while she ate. He heard a knock on the door and saw his father was there holding two small gift bags.

"Oh. Hey dad," said Spencer. William came in and shook his hand.

"Congratulations," said William.

"Thanks," said Spencer. His dad set the bags down and looked into the crib and smiled. He looked over and sat down next to Abby.

"Hi sweetie," said/signed William. Abby looked at him and offered him one of her crackers. William took it and grinned. "She's good at sharing. Where's Catherine?"

"She went to check on Savannah. We're all being discharged tomorrow and Savannah's moving in with Saul's mother until she leaves for school," said Spencer. His father reached into the crib and took the Sammy's hand.

"Can I hold him?" asked William.

"Yeah go ahead," said Spencer. William took Sammy out of the crib and held him.

"I am so proud of you. You have a very beautiful family here," said William. Spencer didn't really know what to say and he turned to Abby who was starting to get fussy. He picked her up and laid her down in a travel playpen Garcia had brought. She grabbed her blanket, he handed her a sippy cup and dozed off within a few minutes.

"She's gotten so big," said William putting Sammy back in his crib. "I'm sorry I don't come out here more to visit. It's just...it's hard sometimes seeing how good you are at this. I really wanted a family when I was younger, the reality of it was not what I expected," admitted William.

"It's ok. Really it is. For the longest time I didn't think I would want this. It was Catherine who made me want this. I couldn't do this without her," said Spencer.

"Don't sell yourself short. You're a good father and it shows," said William.

"For the longest time I was worried that I would be like you and just leave and hurt them...I know you didn't want to hurt us but it did. I understand now you did what you thought was best to protect us at the time. I would do anything to keep them safe even leave," admitted Spencer reaching into the playpen and brushing some of Abby's hair back.

"I know telling you how sorry I am really won't make up for all the years I wasn't around. I would like to be around for them though. I was planning on retiring later next year and was wondering how you would feel if I wanted to retire out here. I know Catherine is more than capable of raising these children and that you have a family here, but I would like to be apart of your family again," said William.

"I would like that," said Spencer and he gave his father a hug. William hugged him back and Spencer could feel his father shaking. "It's ok...it's ok." Catherine came in and stood there for a second watching her husband hug his father. She couldn't even recall him hugging Spencer when he was younger. It was amazing to her how much things had changed in their lives. She knocked to let them know she was there. William came up and hugged her tightly, he had no idea that when his son brought her home at five to play with him that she would be the love of his son's life. _I owe you so much, _thought William as she stepped out of the hug.

"He's a sweet baby. Congratulations," said/signed William.

"Thank you," signed Catherine.

…...

"Again," signed Abby and she tapped the book they had just finished reading.

"It's bedtime," said/signed Spencer. Abby was having none of it and she went into a full fledged fit. Catherine looked up from feeding Sammy and sort of grinned has he paced around the room trying to calm the eleven month old down. Sammy's face screwed up at the sound of Abby's crying. They had ran the hearing test and everything looked fine with Sammy's hearing. She had a feeling he could hear her when even before the test came back by the way he turned her head when she spoke. Abby would look at them, but Catherine had to look directly at her when she spoke where Sammy just seem to follow. Spencer had sat back down with Abby and was rocking her. Catherine could tell she had stopped crying, but she was still clearly upset about not having her story again. Sammy finished his bottle and Catherine started burping him and getting him to go to sleep. Catherine got Sammy to sleep and after another forty minutes of being rocked Abby caved to sleep. Spencer put her in the playpen and he looked exhausted.

"We could still call Penny to get her," signed Catherine.

"She's already asleep," signed Spencer sitting down. Catherine came over to him and gave him a hug.

"She just thought she could con you into story time and was heartbroken that she couldn't. She'll get over it," signed Catherine. She gave him a kiss and squeezed his hand.

"At least she doesn't seem jealous of Sammy. If anything she seems really excited to be near him," signed Spencer.

"Give it time and I'm sure jealousy will rear it's ugly head," signed Catherine. Spencer gave her a look and she laughed. "It's going to fine. They're good babies," signed Catherine. Spencer took her hand and squeezed.

"Savannah is going to leave after the court date next week. I swear I'm fighting empty nest issues and I still have two babies. You must think I'm crazy," admitted Catherine.

"I don't think you're crazy. I think she's been apart of your life for over two years now and you feel responsible for her...she gave us our son. It's not going to be easy to say good bye to her. I know we're keeping the adoption open, but I think she's going to want her space for a bit," signed Spencer.

"I figured as much," signed Catherine looking at Sammy in his crib. "You had really dark hair like this when we were kids. And those glasses," teased Catherine.

"Do I need to remind you and that sixth grade prem?" asked Spencer. Catherine gave him a playful push before she kissed him. Spencer kissed her back and they settled in to get some sleep.

…...

"Spencer and Catherine Reid," called the clerk. Spencer took Catherine's hand and motioned it was their turn. Catherine picked up Sammy's carseat and squeezed his hand. Savannah looked nervous and took Saul's hand as they all walked into the court room together, they were formalizing the adoption today.

"It's ok," said/signed Garcia. She was here with them to translate for Catherine. They had left Abby with JJ and Will for the morning while they were in court. They sat down and the case worker went over all her home visits and reports on them.

"We feel that the Reid's would provide a secure and stable home for Sammy," said the case worker. The judge nodded and turned to Savannah and Saul.

"You have given this thought and understand once this finalized it will terminate your parental rights to this child. Even though this is an open adoption the Reid's will have final say in your visiting rights?" asked the judge. Savannah and Saul stood up and she was holding his hand as she spoke.

"We understand that and we know that after we leave here Sammy is their son. But this is the best thing we could ever do for him, we're going to give him the best parents anyone can ask for," said Savannah. Garcia signed it for Catherine and she felt herself tear up a bit. She looked so young to Catherine it was hard to believe she was going to college next week or to have had a baby that was sleeping in the carseat next to her. The judge nodded and turned to Spencer and Catherine.

"You've had this child in your care since his birth?" asked the judge.

"We have," said Spencer.

"You and your wife are than fully commited to this child?" asked the judge.

"We are," said Spencer. The judge nodded.

"I hereby grant full parental rights to Dr Spencer and Mrs. Catherine Reid." The judge signed the paperwork and had a clerk give it to them. The next case was called and they were ushered out the courtroom. Saul shook Spencer's hand.

"Good luck," said/signed Saul. He took Savannah's hand and they went to leave when Catherine called out.

"Can we just get one picture of us together with Sammy?" Savannah turned and nodded. They stepped off to the side and Catherine took Sammy out of his carseat for the picture. Garcia took the picture of Spencer standing behind Catherine while she held Sammy, Savannah next to her and Saul standing behind her. Catherine handed Sammy to Spencer when the picture was done and hugged Savannah. Savannah hugged her back just as hard and both of them were fighting tears.

"You can come see us when ever you want," said Catherine although she had a feeling it was going to be awhile before she saw Savannah again.

"I know," said/signed Savannah. She took Saul's hand and they walked downstairs to leave. Sammy started fussing and Spencer gave him a pacifer to quiet him down. Catherine wiped her eyes and turned her attention back to her son. Garcia gave them both a hug and said her good byes, she had a feeling they needed some alone time

"Let's get Abby and go home," said/signed Spencer after he got Sammy back in the car seat. Catherine nodded and took his hand and they left the court house with their son.


	25. Chapter twenty four

Chapter Twenty Four

_January 2017_

Spencer sat his go bag down in the entry way and heard Abby sobbing and Catherine trying to comfort her. Sammy looked up from his spot on the sofa and gave his father a tired smile.

"Hi daddy," said Sammy tired. Spencer went and gave the boy a kiss on his forehead and found him to be running a fever. He noticed a small cup of juice next to him and a bucket on the floor next to him

"Not feeling good buddy?"

"I threw up at school yesterday," said Sammy.

"That's not good," said Spencer.

"Abby threw up on herself," said Sammy. That would explain the sobbing he heard from down the hall in the bathroom.

"You gonna be ok while I see if mommy needs help?" asked Spencer. Sammy nodded and Spencer tucked him in with a blanket before heading down the hall to see how Catherine was fairing. She had Abby in the tub and was washing her hair, Abby was holding a bucket in front of her and had clearly just finished throwing up.

"I'm sorry mommy," signed Abby crying.

"It's ok honey," signed Catherine rinsing out Abby's hair.

"Hi sweetie," said/signed Spencer kneeling down by the tub.

"Hi daddy," sniffed Abby wiping her eyes. Catherine looked over at him and gave him a tired smile. It was clear this had been a marathon this evening.

"Sammy said you weren't feeling good," said/signed Spencer and Abby nodded in agreement.

"You need to throw up anymore?" asked Spencer.

"No," signed Abby. Spencer took the bucket away, added some water and tossed the mess down the toilet. Catherine finished giving Abby her bath and got her dried off and into some clean pj's.

"I'll dry her hair. Why don't you get Sammy ready for bed," suggested Spencer. Catherine gave him a kiss and headed out to check on Sammy. Spencer carefully brushed and blow dried Abby's hair. She turned and gave him a hug.

"I missed you. You were gone a whole week," signed Abby.

"I missed you too. Mommy said she didn't read any of James and the Giant Peach while I was gone. Would you like me to read it to you and Sammy tonight?" asked Spencer.

"Yes please," signed Abby. Spencer picked her up and carried her her back out to the living room where Sammy had crawled into Catherine's lap and was zoned out watching a show about black bears. Spencer sat down next to them and touched Sammy's head.

"Do you want story time or do you just want to go sleep?" asked Spencer.

"I want the story," said/signed Sammy. Sammy moved over so Abby could also sit on Catherine's lap and Spencer started retelling James and Giant Peach to Abby and Sammy and it wasn't even five minutes later before both kids were out like lights. Spencer took Sammy out of Catherine's lap and took him to bed while Catherine got Abby in her bed. Spencer was tucking Sammy in when he woke up. He gave his father a sleepy smile and hugged him hard.

"Night Sammy," said Spencer.

"Night daddy," said Sammy. Spencer turned on his nightlight before heading into Abby's room where Catherine was tucking her in. Abby was out like a light. Catherine looked at him tired and stepped out of Abby's room shutting the door behind her. She hugged him and Spencer hugged her back.

"So how was your night?" asked Spencer and she sort of sighed.

"The kids at school have been passing around some sort of stomach bug. I had to keep Abby home the other day and Sammy seemed ok and than right after lunch I got a text that he was running a fever and throwing up. They seem to be keeping juice and water down. However you saw the results of giving Abby a piece of toast," signed Catherine.

Spencer gave her another hug and they headed into the kitchen to make some tea. He could tell there was something else on her mind that she was working through.

"So other than the flu bug is there anything else?" asked Spencer handing her a cup of tea.

"Well there are two things actually... I got a notice that out rent is going up again. I really hate the new landlords," signed Catherine. They had gotten new landlords two years ago and so far their rent had gone up a ridiculous amount. Spencer sighed, Catherine had just gone back to work full time a few months ago, but at this rate it was just becoming impossible to keep the apartment.

"I did some digging and we could actually be making a house payment for a bit less...I was going to do some more budgeting this evening to see how much of a house payment we could swing," signed Catherine.

"Would you want to stay in the District or move into Virginia?" asked Spencer.

"The housing prices are a better in Virginia. We could move closer to Quantico. I would have to commute a bit further for work and for Abby to go to school. But it might be worth it to move to an area with more kids for them to play with," signed Catherine.

"I have a few days off so we can run the numbers together. Maybe even look at a few places online," suggested Spencer. Catherine gave him a small smile, it was clear she had been bouncing this around in her head since he left and she need to unload.

"So what else happened while I was gone?" asked Spencer.

"We might have to have a talk with Sammy and Abby. Abby had a project at school and she needed to bring in a baby photo. Her and Sammy were looking through the photo albums and there are pictures of when I was pregnant with Abby, but Sammy wanted to know why there are no pictures of me like that with him." signed Catherine.

"What did you tell him?" asked Spencer.

"I distracted them with ice cream," signed Catherine. Spencer sighed and Catherine shrugged. "I didn't know what to tell him and I figured this was something we needed to talk about as a family."

"We do," agreed Spencer. He knew this day would happen sooner or later and that it wouldn't be the first time they would have to have this conversation. He knew they would have to have again when he got older.

"We can talk to them tomorrow," signed Spencer. The next morning the kids were feeling a bit better and they sat them both down and explained that there were different types of moms and dads. That you had moms and dads who made the baby and that you had moms and dads who raised the baby. That they had made Abby, but another mom and dad made Sammy and they were the mom and dad who were going to raise him.

"Oh...ok. Can I have some more juice?" asked Sammy. Catherine went to get Sammy his juice

"You ok Abby?" asked Spencer.

"Can Sammy's other mom and dad ever take him back?" asked Abby.

"No he gets to live with us forever like you do. Is there anything else honey?" asked Spencer.

"That's good. I like Sammy," signed Abby.

"You do," teased Spencer.

"Very much," signed Abby curling up next to him. Spencer kissed her forehead and Catherine came back out with Sammy and they all sat together to watch a movie.

Catherine had Sammy in her lap and was playing his short black hair. He had very light skin and dark blue eyes. However he had so many of his and Catherine's mannerisms it was unreal to him at times. Right now he was biting the inside of his check the same way Catherine did when she was focused on something. Spencer could tell she had been more wound up about talking about the adoption than looking into a house. She had kept in touch with Savannah and Saul through letters and through Saul's mother. Savannah was finishing up college in Chicago and had a job lined up with a theater in Chicago. Saul was working at a markering firm in Chicago. Saul had been back to DC to visit his mother, but he hadn't expressed an interest in seeing Sammy in person. Savannah hadn't been back to DC since she left five years ago. Later on that night they were tucking the kids into bed and Sammy seemed more quiet than normal.

"Something on your mind?" asked Spencer.

"I like that your my daddy and that mommy is my mommy," said Sammy.

"We like that too," said Spencer. Sammy gave him a hug and settled into bed with a bear that Emily had given him when she visited two years ago. Spencer kissed Abby good night and found Catherine folding laundry in their bedroom.

"You ok?" asked Spencer and she shrugged. Spencer took the blanket she was folding away and made her look at him. "You were worried about how Sammy and Abby were going to take us telling them. I say it went well."

"We're going to have to explain it again when they're older and what if they don't take it as well the next time or the time after that. What if he wants to meet them and they don't want to see him and it hurts him?" asked Catherine getting upset.

"What matters is that he has a mother who loves him more than anything. He told me that he liked having you as his mommy," signed Spencer. Catherine gave him a small grin and Spencer sat down on the bed.

"You are a really good mother you know that. I know you tend to get the short end of the stick with all the household and parenting stuff...but the kids love you and no matter what we tell them they will always look up to you," signed Spencer.

"Thank you," said Catherine.

…...

It took them another six months to find the house, nothing just seemed right or way out of their price range. The house was one that Morgan had been trying to sell for over a year and the last potential buyers had their funding fall through leaving Morgan at square one.

"This house is going to kill me," muttered Morgan getting off the phone. Spencer looked up from his file.

"What's wrong with it?" asked Spencer.

"Not a damn thing. I've fixed it top to bottom, lower the price twice and nothing. It's really starting to piss me off," muttered Morgan.

"How big is it?" asked Spencer and Morgan raised an eyebrow.

"You looking for real estate?" asked Morgan.

"For over six months and we haven't had any luck," admitted Spencer and Morgan looked like he wanted to strangle him.

"I could have unloaded this house six months ago if you had said something," said Morgan.

"What makes you think we would want it?" asked Spencer. Morgan grinned and fished out his keys.

"Come on we're taking a long lunch," said Morgan. Spencer sighed and sat his paperwork aside and followed Morgan out to his car. They drove about twenty minutes into a small neighborhood at the edge of Quantico up to a gray two story house. Spencer got out of the car and looked up at the house, something about it just felt right. Morgan looked at Spencer and had a feeling that he was hooked, but he had to reel him in.

"Let's go inside and I'll show you the rest," said Morgan. They walked inside to an entry way that went into a dining room area.

"It's a very big space and..." Spencer gave him a look.

"Can I just look around without the sales pitch?" asked Spencer. He walked upstairs and found a master bedroom and three smaller rooms with a full bathroom. Morgan had left them all rather plain, white walls and light brown carpet. _An attempt to have the potential buyer to see themselves living here. _Spencer went back downstairs and headed to the basement part of the house, it had a living room area and a small laundry room off to the side. He went back upstairs to the kitchen and looked out to see a small backyard had been fenced off. Spencer could easily see himself here with Catherine and the kids. Something about it just felt right. He went back into the dining room and saw Morgan was waiting.

"You know I can't make any decision without Catherine's input," said Spencer.

"What do you think Pretty Boy?" asked Morgan.

"Did someone die here and it's why you can't sell it?" asked Spencer.

"No one died here. An old lady owed it, she moved down south and sold me her house and I've been trying to sell it since," said Morgan.

"It's a nice house," said Spencer. He texted Catherine the address and asked her if she could meet him here. About an hour later Catherine parked in the driveway and looked up at the house in awe.

"I think she's given her input," teased Morgan seeing the look on her face. Catherine came inside and Morgan gave her the sales pitch about the size of the house, the school Sammy would go to in the area and how long her commute from here to the District would be for her and Abby to school.

"I'll leave you two to talk," said/signed Morgan stepping outside.

"I checked the listing price before I got here and it's a good price. The school would be nice for Sammy. The commute is a bit longer than I would like, but it would be much shorter for you," signed Catherine.

"But you like this house?" asked Spencer.

"I really do. I don't know what it is, but I can see the kids here and I really like it," signed Catherine. Spencer gave her a hug and took a breath.

"You know if we back out Morgan is going to kill us both," teased Spencer.

"We could make him suffer, tell him we're going to sleep on it for a bit," signed Catherine.

"That's too mean even for you," signed Spencer.

"We have the loan approved. We could have this closed by Friday," signed Catherine. Morgan came back upstairs and looked at them pleading.

"I'm willing to drop another ten thousand off the price and help with any closing costs you guys need. I just want this house to go to good people," said/signed Morgan. Catherine looked at Spencer with a small smile.

"We were gonna take it at list price, but if you're willing to drop it a bit more and helping with closing costs than you are the biggest sap ever," teased Catherine. Morgan just smiled at her and gave her a hug that picked her up off the ground.

"Can you please not injure my wife?" asked Spencer. Morgan sat her down and smiled at Spencer.

"We can start the paperwork tomorrow morning," said/signed Morgan. He handed them a set of keys. "See you back at the office Pretty Boy." Morgan headed out and Catherine had to head back to work. Spencer took a moment to enjoy the quiet of the house. It wouldn't stay this way for long and it gave him a little smile.

They were in mid move when he got called in to a case in Utah involving a serial rapist and murderer.

"I love you and I will call you guys tonight before bed," said/signed Spencer giving the kids a kiss. Catherine gave him a kiss.

"I think you time these things so you never have to help with a move," teased Catherine. She was right, he had been absent when she moved in with him, he had been absent when she moved into this apartment when she had been expecting Abby and now this. He swore this would be the last time they moved.

Spencer headed out and sorely wished he was packing to move instead of going to Utah. Utah was a grueling two week ordeal that left six woman dead and the one they saved was in ICU when they took off. Catherine had been sending him pictures and e-mails of the house and what the kids were doing which was his only thing that gave him a speck of joy. He noticed that she only sent an e-mail every other day in an effort not to bother him. He really wished she would bother him more sometimes. She sent him a text letting him know that they were competely out of the apartment and to meet her out the house.

When he got home it was close to eleven and Catherine was in the kitchen unpacking. She saw him leaning in the doorway and she grinned upon seeing him.

"Aren't you a sight for sore eyes," signed Catherine and she hugged him. He hugged back and he hugged her hard. The case he had been working on had been all over the news and she had a feeling it was bothering him.

"Did you have dinner yet? I think we have some leftover pizza. I haven't had a chance to go shopping yet," signed Catherine.

"I'm really not hungry right now," signed Spencer. Catherine nodded and went back to unpacking. He would spill when he was ready, he started helping her unpack the glasses and flatware and looking around the kitchen. She had painted the kitchen in the colors they had picked before he left and she had hung up the chore chart they had set up for Abby and Sammy and he couldn't help but notice a new choir had been added to Sammy's side. Feed Dr. Who.

"Why is our son feeding a fictional character?" asked Spencer and Catherine let out a giggle.

"He won a rabbit at the school fair the other day and named him Dr. Who. I figured since it's his rabbit he should have to feed it," signed Catherine. Spencer sighed and sat down looking unbelievable tired

"How do you do this? Make everything so seem so damn normal?" asked Spencer. Catherine sat down next to him and took his hand.

"Because it's what you need me to do," said Catherine softly. Spencer started playing with the wedding ring on Catherine's hand and got quiet again. Over six years of marriage and two children and she had given more than he could ever ask for.

"I wanna marry you," signed Spencer and Catherine laughed.

"We're already married remember?" teased Catherine.

"We ran away to a Vegas chapel and friends phoned into our ceremony. Your dad laid on a guilt trip on so thick I almost felt bad. We never had the reception. We talked about it and we just never had one and I don't know I would like it if I could give you something normal for once," signed Spencer.

"You gave me my babies. That's pretty normal," signed Catherine.

"Please. I want to marry you again," signed Spencer. She squeezed his hand hard and was near tears.

"Do you want to go to Vegas and do it there? I know you don't think it's home, but it is a little bit. It's where I met you...it's where I fell in love with you," signed Catherine.

Spencer kissed her, Vegas hadn't been home to him for a very long time. Vegas was where they had fallen in love, but it was also where they had broken each others hearts. It was where he found the truth about his father out. It was where they had gotten married, had their heart to heart about her doubts of having Abby, talked about how much he hated saying good bye to her all time. Vegas had been the background of where they started and how they built what they had here.

Here was home to him because this is where she had found him. This is where she put herself on the line for him. Unlike Vegas when they had hurt each and walked away they fought for each other here no matter how much it hurt and god at times it had hurt so much. But the good times here outweighed so much of the hurt. He wanted more of the good times here.

"Let's have it here. We'll keep it small, just the family. We could even have it before school starts again," signed Spencer. Catherine stood up and hugged him.

"You know once my dad and Garcia find out that we're having a real wedding they will take everything over and we will have no say in anything," signed Catherine.

"I promise you it will not be anything insane or over the top," signed Spencer.

"Come on it's getting late. We can finish unpacking this room tomorrow. You want to check on the kids?" asked Catherine. Spencer went into Abby's room first and was still amused how she would sometimes still sleep with her arms above her head. Spencer kissed her on the forehead and went into Sammy's room to see him curled up around his favorite bear. A cage was in the corner with a large gray rabbit sleeping. Spencer kissed him goodnight and went into their bedroom and found that Catherine was changing into one of his old Cal-tech shirts that stopped just above her knees. He had always just assumed that at some point in all relationships the physical attraction would fade away, however after over a decade of a relationship and intimacy with her it never seemed to fade for him. He made sure his gun was locked and stored away before coming over to Catherine and putting his hands on her waist and kissing her hard.

"I missed you so much," he said before kissing her again. _You're my home, my light, everything to me._

…...

Despite all the badgering from Garcia and Andrew to have something bigger, Spencer kept his word to her that it would be a small affair. She didn't know how he managed to pull this together considering his case load over the past few months. She had a feeling that Penny might have played a small part in getting things arranged. She had offered to help and he refused to let her. It was probably one of the few times that the groom had taken over all the wedding planning.

"It's not puffy enough," signed Abby. JJ and Garcia tried to hide their laughter. Catherine studied the dress in the mirror. It was a white knee length dress strapless dress that had a red sash around the waist. Sammy was at home with Spencer and she had taken Abby with her for the dress fitting.

"When you get married you can have the biggest puffy dress you want," signed Catherine. It was the final fitting before the renewal in three days. She went into the dressing room to change back into her normal clothes. When she came back out she noticed that Garcia and JJ were talking with a clerk, but they didn't have Abby with them. She looked around quickly and spotted Abby standing by a woman with dark hair and a young girl with short blond hair. Abby turned around and saw her and than so did the other woman. _You sneak,_ thought Catherine seeing that it was Emily standing there. Emily grinned at her and Catherine went over to her and gave her a hug.

"I thought you couldn't get away," signed Catherine.

"You really thought I was going to miss seeing you two get married," teased Emily. Catherine looked at the young girl with Emily and realized it must be Jody, she had grown a good four inches since the last time Catherine had seen her during Emily's last visit.

"I'm going to sound old when I say this, but god she's has gotten tall," signed Catherine.

"She's nothing but legs...she's one of the best runners in her school. She actually going to run a marthron this fall. I almost had to twist her arm to get her here, I told her she could take three days off for a family event," signed Emily.

"I see you found our present to you," teased JJ.

"And it is a good one. Thank you," signed Catherine. She handed the dress over to JJ for her to keep at her house until Saturday. Garcia and JJ said their goodbyes since they had to go back to the BAU. Catherine went over and hugged Jody.

"It's so good to see you again," said/signed Catherine.

"It's good to see you again too," said/signed Jody.

"Can we get some lunch?" asked Abby.

"I'm starving," said Jody.

"Tiny crackers and cheese is not a meal," said/signed Emily.

"Burgers and fries," suggested Catherine.

"Oh Five Guys please!" begged Jody. Emily laughed at her daughter's love of the American burger and fry. It seemed to be the only thing her daughter didn't like about her life in London.

"To the Five Guys," said/signed Emily. Catherine drove them to the nearest restaurant and had lunch together. Abby kept signing and talking a mile a minute to Emily and Jody. Jody was very kind and kept talking and signing with Abby and it reminded Catherine so much of how Kyle was with kids. _You would be so proud of her Kyle,_ thought Catherine. After lunch they headed to a park across the street where Jody took Abby to play. Emily looked at Catherine and just shook her head.

"She's gotten big too," signed Emily watching Abby on the swings with Jody.

"Wait till you see Sammy," signed Catherine.

"God your kids make me feel old," signed Emily.

"I found gray hairs the other day," signed Catherine.

"At least you don't have to dye your hair yet," signed Emily. "So after this are you guys thinking about having anymore after this. You guys do manage to have cute kids."

"I hate to say it, but I think we're done. I have two great kids...why tempt fate with a third kid? This might sound a bit selfish, but it gets a little hard at times to juggle Abby and Sammy when Spencer isn't home and it wouldn't be fair to Abby and Sammy to have another person to take my attention away," signed Catherine.

"I was really hoping for another baby to spoil,"signed Emily.

"You could always bug JJ to have another," signed Emily.

"Henry could use a sibling," agreed Emily. "So how goes the wedding planning?"

"Spencer has taken over everything. I have picked out my dress, got to add a few names to the guest list and he told me to be at Rossi's house on Saturday. I'm the groom in this," signed Catherine and Emily laughed.

"I think it's sweet that he's doing this," signed Emily.

"It is," signed Catherine playing with her wedding ring. "So what about you. Anymore horrible blind dates?"

"Too many to count. Accents are also losing their appeal," signed Emily.

"Glad I could never fall for one," teased Catherine.

"I really miss you," signed Emily. It was amazing to her how easy this friendship with Catherine was. It was one of the first friendships outside of her job that had been so easy for her to maintain. Her friendships back in England weren't has close as the friendships she had back here in DC.

"I wish I could visit you more," signed Catherine.

"You have two little kids and a have gone back to teaching full time. I understand why you can't make the trip over more than once every two years. I could visit you guys more," signed Emily

"You don't run an office with Interpol or have a tween daughter or anything?" asked Catherine.

"I still miss you," signed Emily.

"So since I didn't know you were coming I can't make you maid of honor now. That has gone to JJ, but do you think you can help me with something else?" asked Catherine.

"Name it," signed Emily. Catherine made her request and Emily grinned. "The look on everyone face is going to be priceless. " Catherine hugged her.

"Thank you for this," signed Catherine. She felt her bag vibrate and it was Spencer texting wanting to know where she was. "You want to come over and see the house? Surprise the hell out of Spencer?" asked Catherine.

"I would love too," signed Emily.

…...

"I thought you and mommy were already married so why are you getting married again?' asked Sammy.

"We are married, but when we got married we ran away so it was just us. But people like your Grandpa Andrew and Grandpa William really wanted to see your mommy and I get married like everybody else so we're getting married again for them and for the other people who wanted to see us get married," explained Spencer sitting down with Sammy.

"Like when we have Christmas here and than with Grandpa?" asked Sammy.

"Kind of like that," agreed Spencer. He heard the front door open and Abby call out.

"We're home and have a surprise!" _Please not another pet,_ thought Spencer. He headed into the entry way and saw Catherine come in with Abby and to his surprise Emily and Jody.

"Surprise!" yelled Abby. Spencer stood there stunned for a moment before coming over and hugging her.

"I thought you couldn't come," said Spencer.

"I do like to keep you on your toes," said Emily.

"Aunt Emily!" cried Sammy running into the room to hug her. She bent down, picked him up and hugged him.

"How you doing honey?" asked Emily.

"Good. I got a bunny!" said Sammy. Emily kissed his forehead, even though she moved England, Catherine had insisted that Emily also be Sammy's godmother. God she missed them so much sometimes.

"You did. Can I see it?" asked Emily. Abby asked Jody to come and see her room. They headed upstairs and Catherine gave Spencer and grinned.

"Do you know they were coming?" asked Spencer.

"Not till an hour ago," signed Catherine. Spencer hugged her and he heard the kids laughing with Emily upstairs and couldn't help but smile.

They had dinner and Emily read the kids a bedtime story and got them into bed. Catherine sat down with Jody to watch a movie while Spencer and Emily went into the kitchen to talk.

"They want to skip Abby from first to sixth grade, but Catherine wants to wait until she's a bit older," said Spencer sitting down with some tea.

"Well she is a rather smart cookie, but I think Catherine is in the right. She's smart, but I don't think she's ready to deal with all those older kids," said Emily.

"Catherine has downloaded some lesson plans and is just having her work on those during the school year so she doesn't get bored," said Spencer.

"How's Sammy doing with preschool?" asked Emily.

"He's doing really well. Well he does need some help cutting circles, but he's doing really well with his reading and writing skills," said Spencer.

"Of course you guys have little genius babies," teased Emily.

"We had to talk to Sammy about being adopted. He seemed to take it well, than again I'm not sure he really understood it fully. I know we'll have to talk to him again when he's older, but at least the first talk went ok," said Spencer. "So how's Jody doing?"

"Good. In addition to Track and Field she's part of her school's Kennel club and is trying to convince me to let her breed Lilo and I'm not sure how I feel about a flat full of beagle puppies. You guys want a dog?" teased Emily and laughed as Spencer made a face.

"We already have a rabbit," said Spencer. They sat there quietly for a few moments before Emily spoke up again.

"So how are you doing?" asked Emily.

"I'm doing really good. I...things are settled I guessed. I mean work at the BAU is still grueling, but when I'm here something feels right. I just have a sense of peace here," said Spencer. "We had this horrible case a few weeks ago and when I came home it was just so normal here. I don't get to have a lot normal moments with them, but when I do it just puts me at ease," said Spencer.

"You have an amazing family here," said Emily. Spencer sort of ducked his head and looked at his tea.

"Do you mind if I ask you something?" asked Spencer and Emily nodded.

"How long we're you and Hotch involved?" Emily almost choked on her tea.

"How did you...you are too good at your job," said Emily.

"I was watching Hotch sign to Catherine and I realized he had never asked me to to teach him. It wasn't Garcia either, we taught JJ and Morgan and Rossi, but not Hotch. Someone had to and it had to be you," said Spencer. Emily sighed and sipped her tea.

"You knew the whole time," said Emily.

"I figured it wasn't my business. I know what it's like to want to keep a relationship private," said Spencer.

"Thank you for keeping it private for me," said Emily.

"He broke up with Beth last year," said Spencer.

"I know. Jack and Jody are pen pals and he told her," said Emily.

"You know it's never too late to try again," said Spencer.

"Some things are best left in the past," said Emily.

"If you had told my early twenty something self that I would be married to the woman who broke my heart I wouldn't have believed you. Now she's sitting in the living room of our home," said Spencer. Emily gave him a look and Spencer smirked.

"That wedding ring clearly has magical powers. Can I borrow that?" asked Emily.

"Just give it a chance...I know it's hard sometimes to take the risk, but sometimes in the end it's worth everything," said Spencer. Emily looked at him and wished she could have the courage he did. It was that courage that gave him what he had today.

…...

"I really can't thank you enough for this," said Spencer looking around the backyard. Rossi had agreed to host the renewal at his home for them.

"Well I am a sucker for a wedding," said Rossi.

"That explains a lot," said Garcia. She was wearing a bright blue dress and had light blue streaks in her hair for today.

"No pink today," teased Spencer.

"My own wedding was pink enough," laughed Garcia. She had gotten married last year to Kevin at the Sci-con here in town and she had worn a pink dress that reminded Spencer of Princess Peach from Mario. Morgan had walked her down the aisle and the minister who was dressed like Dr. Who. Garcia had actually started crying during the ceremony and they had to stop for a good ten minutes before they could go on. Abby, Sammy and Henry actually went up and hugged her so she would stop crying.

"So when is the bride joining us?" asked Rossi.

"She and the kids are getting ready at JJ's house," said Spencer.

"I'm glad you decided to not leave the country," said Rossi.

"The last time we got the kids on a plane to leave the country to visit Emily Sammy's ears kept popping and we got far to many dirty looks because he was crying. It's hard to explain to a kid that his ears are just adjusting to the pressure change and that his head really isn't going to explode. Trust me we have no desire to leave the country for awhile," said Spencer. Rossi shook his head and went to make sure the photograper was getting pictures.

"I'm really glad you want to do this again," said Garcia hugging him.

"That makes two of us," said Andrew coming up to join them. He and Erin had got to DC the other day.

"Had I known how badly you were going to use guilt to manipulate me for over the past six years I would have married her at your wedding," said Spencer.

"Wait till it's Abby's turn and trust me you will become a master at guilt manipulation," teased Andrew. Erin laughed and she hugged him.

"We're very happy for you," said Erin.

"Thank you," said Spencer.

"Have you seen the whole house yet? Trust me it is amazing," said Garcia taking Andrew's arm and Erin followed behind him. Spencer shook his head and had went to greet some of the guests. He hadn't invited many people, their family and a few friends. Norie and Monica, Catherine's friends from when she had been a student in Japan were here. He greeted them and Norie introduced him to her husband, Ando who was a doctor at St Luke's. Norie thanked him for inviting them.

"This might be the last time I get to travel," said Norie putting her hands over her bump. "Ando had to get one of the other doctors to write me a note to fly over," said Norie.

"You people and your kid having. It's why we have haven't see Kari in over three years. How many is she up to now? Three?" asked Monica.

"Actually when Kari and Tom got to California they found out she was expecting again. So it's four now," teased Norie as Monica rolled her eyes.

"I think one might be enough," said Ando taking Norie's hand.

"I think I will let guys have all the kids," said Monica sipping her drink. Spencer shook his as Norie started teasing Monica and he stepped away.

"I am surprised that you even have kids," teased Ethan coming up to him.

"I'm surprised you don't," retorted Spencer. He was surprised that Ethan had come up. Spener knew that Ethan and Catherine had kept in touch and once in awhile Ethan would write him, but despite Catherine's repeated offers he never came up.

"No one has told me about them yet," said Ethan. He walked Spencer over to the bar and and got them both a drink.

"So you've managed to trick her into marrying you again. I have to give you credit...you clearly are the smarter of the two of us," said Ethan.

"I never thought I would hear you say that," said Spencer.

"I just wish I knew what you did to con her in. I mean I did kiss her before you made a single move," teased Ethan.

"I just made better moves," said Spencer.

"Well I'm just glad you finally beat me at something," said Ethan giving him a mock toast. Spencer sipped his drink and shrugged.

"So when do you plan on knock her up again?" asked Ethan.

"I'm not. We've decided two was enough with my job and Catherine wanting to go back into teaching," said Spencer.

"You ever think about not being Batman for awhile? Quit the BAU and get some nice 9 to 5 job where you could be home for all those fun family activities?" asked Ethan.

"Because someone needs to be there to make sure that other people get to go home to their families. She knows that and understands it...it's one of the reasons I love her so much," said Spencer.

"I always knew she was your girl," said Ethan. _I was always hers,_ thought Spencer.

"Will Gideon be joining us?" asked Ethan.

"Why don't you ask him," said Spencer. Gideon came up and asked the bartender for some wine.

"I should have known Rossi would have an open bar at his house," said Gideon. Ethan ordered another drink.

"I will let you two carry on. Your wife has very attractive friends," said Ethan heading over to talk to Monica.

"Somethings never change," muttered Spencer.

"She's already taken?" asked Gideon.

"Her partner is back in New York. Her sister was expecting a baby and she wanted to be there. It might be fun just to sit here and watch him fail," said Spencer and Gideon laughed.

"I cleaned up the cabin for you and Catherine to come up this week if you want," said Gideon.

"Thank you," said Spencer. They had taken the kids up to the cabin last summer and they had enjoyed it a great deal. His dad had offered to watch the kids while they went away this time though. Erin and Andrew were going to stay a week with them too when they went away.

"When was the last time you and Catherine went away together?" asked Gideon.

"Before we had Abby," said Spencer and Gideon laughed.

"Was it really that long ago? Time is a funny thing," said Gideon.

"I know," said Spencer. He knew that everytime he looked at Abby and Sammy.

"I glad you got a happy ending," said Gideon.

"Who said this was the end?" asked Spencer with a grin.

…...

"You need to hold still honey," signed Catherine. She was trying to brush Abby's hair, it was so curly and it tangled easily. Abby sat still reluctantly while Catherine brushed her hair and pulled it back into a ponytail.

"See how pretty it is now," signed Catherine. Abby smiled at her mother and hugged her.

"Can I have some of the gems too?" asked Abby. Catherine had some red jeweled pins that she was going to use in her hair. Catherine took three pins and carefully put them in Abby's hair. Abby was wearing a white dress with red roses on the hem.

"You look very pretty," signed/said Catherine.

"Thank you mommy," said/signed Abby giving her hug.

"You think you can sit down and read your book while I get dressed?" asked Catherine. Abby nodded and sat down while Catherine started getting dressed. JJ came into the bedroom wearing her bridesmaid dress. Catherine had let JJ pick out her own dress and JJ had opted for a half hemmed spaghetti strapped red dress.

"Well aren't you a pretty girl," said/signed JJ and Abby blushed.

"You need help with your hair?" asked JJ.

"Yes please," said Catherine. She sat down and JJ started putting Catherine's hair back in a braided bun and sticking the jeweled pins into the bun. "Thank you."

"Any time," said/signed JJ. Catherine stood up and looked at herself in the mirror almost stunned.

"I know I was a bit shocked when I saw myself in my wedding dress. Something about it just made it all seem real," said/signed JJ.

"I don't know why I'm spazzing out. We're married already," signed Catherine.

"It's that everyone is watching this time," said/signed JJ.

"Well my dad is finally getting his white wedding," teased Catherine.

"How long has he been begging you and Spence for this?" asked JJ.

"Ummm...I think he wanted this before Spencer and I were together," signed Catherine. JJ laughed.

"I'm sure if my mother had her way Will and I would have gotten married even before I got pregnant with Henry," said/signed JJ. Will knocked on the door before peeking his head in.

"Too many pretty ladies in this house and I think this one here is the prettiest," said/signed Will bending down by Abby. Abby giggled and came over to Catherine.

"You ladies ready to go?" asked Will.

"I believe we are," said JJ and Catherine nodded. She took Abby's hand and they headed downstairs. Henry was downstairs playing with Sammy. He walked over to Catherine and hugged her.

"You look very handsome," said/signed Catherine fixing his tie.

"You look nice too," signed Sammy. She gave him a kiss on the forehead and JJ got in Catherine's car with Abby and Sammy while Will and Henry got in their car and started the drive over to Rossi's house.

Catherine was a bit surprised that Rossi had agreed to host the event for them. It had been over three years since they had any get together at his home. The last time they had been to his home was for Erin Strauss's wake. She had been killed by a rouge FBI agent who had been stalking her for years after she had gotten him fired from the FBI. It had shaken up the whole team for some time. Spencer wouldn't let her and the kids out of his sight for almost a week after Strauss died and he had nightmares that even woke her up. Rossi seemed a bit broken after her death and had left the BAU for a bit after her passing. He was actually planning on retiring this year, Catherine figured it was time he was almost seventy years old. They made it to Rossi's house and parked. Rossi was waiting outside with a man holding a camera. Rossi came over and hugged them.

"I'm glad you decided to not leave the country," said/signed Rossi. He had taken lessons from Spencer and Garcia over the past few years. "Can we get the photos of you and the children before you see the groom?" asked Rossi. Catherine nodded and the photographer started getting pictures of her with JJ and the kids. They finished up with pictures and went into the house and Catherine was greeted by her father, Erin and William. The look of happiness on her father's face was priceless in her eyes.

"You look so beautiful," signed Andrew giving her a hug.

"I told you that you would see me in the white dress someday," teased Catherine.

"It was worth the wait honey," signed Andrew. Erin came up and hugged her.

"The other kids were sorry they couldn't make it out. I promised them lots of pictures," said/signed Erin. Catherine nodded, she had just seen her step siblings at Christmas and had feeling with new jobs starting and one of the twins expecting their first child they wouldn't want to come out to DC. William came over and gave her a hug. Their relationship had changed a great deal over the past few years. He had moved out to DC three years ago and whenever Spencer was out of town and she needed help he was more than willing to drop everything to help her out. When Spencer was home he would try to have dinner with them once a month. She could see that after years apart his father and Spencer were finally starting to have the relationship they missed out on years ago. The children adored William and Catherine could see how much he had wanted to be a father when he was with them. The photographer took some more pictures with her, the children and the grandparents. They finished up with the pictures and her dad handed her a bunch of white tulips.

"I'm going to take the kids outside to sit. See you soon," said/signed William. He took Abby and Sammy and headed outside. Erin was going to be walked down the aisle by Hotch since she was the mother of the bride. She and Andrew stood there looking at her and he smiled.

"You know when you and Paul got engaged I had a feeling it wasn't going to last and I knew I wasn't going to see you marry him. I always had a feeling it was going to be you and Spencer," signed Andrew.

"Sorry it took so long," teased Catherine.

"All good things come to those who wait," signed Andrew. He gave her another hug and felt himself tear up. She might be well into her thirties, a mother of two with a teaching career, but in his eyes she was still the little girl who begged to sit in the front seat of the car has they drove from Reno to Vegas and he taught her how to sign Abba songs during rest stops. Morgan came up to them and grinned.

"Your husband has got to teach me his Jedi Mind Trick. Whenever you're ready he's ready," said/signed Morgan. Catherine nodded and looked at her father before taking his arm and heading to the back door of the house. Hotch and Erin stood in front of them along with Morgan and JJ. Catherine saw Spencer standing in front of the fountain with Garcia. She knew Garcia had gotten ordained to officiate the ceremony and was very touched by the gesture.

Her father heard the music cue up and Erin was walked up front and was taken to her seat next to William and the kids. Morgan walked with JJ up to the front by Spencer. She gripped her father's arm and he started walking her down the aisle. Catherine locked eyes with Spencer and couldn't help but feel at ease even though everyone was looking at her. Her father squeezed her hand before giving her hand to Spencer.

"You've taken good care of her...thank you," said Andrew. He took his seat next to his wife and took her hand. Catherine squeezed his hand and smiled at Spencer. The way he looked at her reminded her of when she came home from Japan, when he asked her to marry him, when they got married, when she had Abby and they had Sammy. That look of joy on his face was so overwhelming.

"Wow I had something really awesome written for you guys and now I can't remember a single word of it," said/signed Garcia and everyone started laughing. Garcia took a deep breath and collected herself.

"Everyone seems to think marriage is the end of the story, but it's really just the start of a whole new story. You two have added some amazing chapters to your story so far and it's been an honor to be witness to some of these chapters. We get to be apart of this new chapter today where you promise to remember where you started from," said/signed Garcia.

"Spencer do you promise to love Catherine? To keep her in sickness and health, for richer or poorer. To take her with all her strengths and weakness as your wife once again for the rest of your days?" asked Garcia.

"I do," said/signed Spencer.

"Catherine do you promise to love Spencer? To keep him in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer. To take him with all his strengths and weakness as your husband once again for the rest of your days?" asked Garcia.

"I do," said/signed Catherine.

"Just to let you know if he hadn't said yes I was going to beat him up for you," said/signed Garcia. Everyone started laughing again as Spencer gave her a look.

"Just letting you know where I stand," teased Garcia before turning her attention to the reading she had picked out. "You both are here because of a promise you made to each other and it seemed fitting to have this piece by Dorothy Colgan: The Promise.

I promise to give you the best of myself  
>and to ask of you no more than you can give.<br>I promise to respect you as your own person  
>and to realize that your interest, desires and needs<br>are no less important than my own.  
>I promise to share with you my time and my attention<br>and to bring joy, strength and imagination to our relationship.  
>I promise to keep myself open to you,<br>to let you see through the windows of my world  
>into my innermost fears and feelings, secrets and dreams.<br>I promise to grow along with you,  
>to be willing to face changes in order to keep<br>our relationship alive and exciting.  
>I promise to love you in good times and in bad,<br>with all I have to give and all I feel inside  
>in the only way I know how - completely and forever.<p>

Garcia finished the reading and Catherine had to wipe her eyes to keep from tearing up. He could hear Erin sniffling and saw Andrew hug Erin. Spencer squeezed Catherine's hand and she grinned at him. Leave it to Garcia to find something that would pull on everyone's heart stings.

"Spencer do you have anything you would like to say to Catherine at this time?" asked Garcia.

"I love you. I know I've said it countless times over the course of our relationship and even now it doesn't seem like those three words are enough to sum up what I feel for you. You've given me my home and my family. It's more than anything I could ever ask for in this life. It's because of you and I could never thank you or love you enough for that," said/signed Spencer. Catherine took his hand again and held it tightly.

"Catherine?" asked Garcia.

"Later," said Catherine softly. Garcia looked confused, but she nodded and went on.

"I am happy to announce that I conclude this renewing of the vows that once again confirms your promise to each other as husband and wife. Now if the good doctor would kiss his wife we could get on with the show," teased Garcia. Catherine took Spencer's hand before standing up on her toes to kiss him. _Think you could meet me half way..._it was something she said when she kissed him the first time after they had gotten back together. He bent down to kiss her so she wouldn't have to stand up so far up. Everyone started cheering and she hugged him tightly when he broke the kiss. He wondered why she wanted to wait till later to say what she wanted, but he knew she would say it when she was ready.

…...

Spencer grinned has Catherine danced with her father to Fleetwood Mac song Landslide. Abby was holding his hand and Sammy was signing the song to her. It reminded Spencer of how he was Catherine's ears at times. He was always worried that jealousy would rear it's head between them, but despite the normal petty sibling stuff they seem to get along well. The song ended and everyone clapped for them. Catherine gave her father a kiss on the cheek and he hugged her tightly. Catherine went over to him and took his hand. She looked really nervous all of a sudden.

"I'm ready to say what I wanted to earlier," she said softly.

"Ok," signed Spencer a bit confused. Catherine looked over at Emily and she tapped her glass to get everyone's attention. Catherine took his hand and went over to a keyboard that someone had managed to sneak in and set up when he wasn't paying attention. Catherine took a deep breath before speaking to him.

"You have always been my best friend and one of the greatest teachers I have ever know. You have always been so willing and patient to learn and grow with me and with our family. You have always wanted me to be more than I am and believed that I could be more." Catherine sat down and took a second to compose herself before she starting playing. Emily came and stood behind her and started singing and signing the song for her.

_All along it was a fever  
>A cold sweat hot-headed believer<br>I threw my hands in the air, said, "Show me something,"  
>He said, "If you dare, come a little closer."<em>

_Round and around and around and around we go  
>Oh now, tell me now, tell me now, tell me now you know.<em>

_Not really sure how to feel about it.  
>Something in the way you move<br>Makes me feel like I can't live without you.  
>It takes me all the way.<br>I want you to stay_

_It's not much of a life you're living  
>It's not just something you take–it's given<em>

_Round and around and around and around we go  
>Oh now, tell me now, tell me now, tell me now you know.<br>Not really sure how to feel about it.  
>Something in the way you move<br>Makes me feel like I can't live without you.  
>It takes me all the way.<br>I want you to stay._

_Ooh, ooh, ooh, the reason I hold on  
>Ooh, ooh, ooh, 'cause I need this hole gone<br>Funny you're the broken one but I'm the only one who needed saving  
>'Cause when you never see the light it's hard to know which one of us is caving.<em>

_Not really sure how to feel about it.  
>Something in the way you move<br>Makes me feel like I can't live without you.  
>It takes me all the way.<br>I want you to stay, stay.  
>I want you to stay, oh.<em>

Everyone stood there stunned watching her play and even Spencer was a little stunned. He had been teaching her on and off for years since before they had Abby. He could tell she was worried about people watching her and he put a hand on her lower back to help calm her down. He was proud of her, he hadn't taught her this song and he wondered when she had the time to work this out. Ethan looked at him and grinned. They must have worked this out on Skype. _I am so proud of you. _She finished and her hands were shaking from nerves. Spencer took them and smiled at her.

"That was amazing," signed Spencer giving her a kiss.

"Yeah?" asked Catherine. Emily just stood behind them with a huge grin on her face. "Thank you," signed Catherine giving Emily a hug.

"He taught her how to play piano," said Erin looking at Andrew stunned.

"They have always been remarkable together," said Andrew. Erin hugged him tightly as he watched his daughter hug her husband. _I just always knew it would be you two. _Gideon grinned looking at them. She had brought out the best in him, looking at him and seeing the happiness on his face was worth it. It reminded him of how Sarah had made him feel once. Gideon slipped out of Rossi's queitly. He was right, it wasn't the end for them. He knew that when they did reach the end they would be together.

…...

Emily sat there and watched Catherine dance with Sammy as Spencer danced with Abby. Jody was dancing with Jack even though she was almost a foot taller than him in her heels. They had been pen pals every since Jody had left for London. Looking at them she wondered if she was looking at a future Spencer and Catherine. Hotch sat down next to her and they watched their kids dance together.

"I miss you sometimes," said Emily. Hotch looked at her stunned and Emily waited for him to walk away. They had never really talked about their relationship or her leaving. He wished her luck and said goodbye to her. When she came to visit he brought Jack so he could hang out with Jody, but they were never alone.

"I miss you too sometimes," said Hotch softly and Emily looked at him stunned. "Let's go inside and talk." He got up and headed into the house and Emily followed after a minute. They went into Rossi's study to talk.

"After you came back...I was worried that you really hadn't 'come back' and I was right. You weren't happy here and I didn't want to hold you back or make you second guess any decisions you wanted to make. You made your decision to go after Doyle alone because you wanted to protect us...all of us and I wanted you to do something that was for you and only you," said Hotch. Emily sighed and just looked at him. This talk was long overdue and she needed to gather her thoughts.

"It was so hard coming back and I know you had to move on for the sake of the team, but...you made it seem so easy to move on and..." Hotch cut her off.

"You think it was easy to move on from you? The break was needed after Haley died. I wasn't in any shape to be romantic with anyone, but when you left and I had to pretend you were dead and watch my team try to stay together when all the wanted to do was break apart. I would go home and wait till Jack was asleep before I could break down. It was so hard some days Emily. Beth...I won't lie when I say that I had real feelings for Beth. But at the end of the day when I really get down to it she wasn't you," admitted Hotch. Emily had to blink back tears and Hotch took her hand and squeezed hard.

"So what do we now?" asked Emily.

"I really don't know," admitted Hotch.

"I could see what positions they have here state side. It might be a little hard for me to come back. I did piss a lot people off here before I left and they weren't sad to see me go," said Emily.

"I can't ask you to give up the best career move you have ever made," said Hotch.

"You haven't asked me anything I am making my own choices to do this...I have to consider Jody in this. Than again her love of American food just might make my case for me. I might not even find a job in this area. I would just like it if we could be close again," said Emily. Hotch took her hand and without warning he leaned in and kissed her. Emily was stunned for a moment before kissing him back. _Somethings never change...it just takes courage. _

…...

Abby was sound asleep in his arms has they danced, her hair had fallen out of it's ponytail and Spencer stroked her hair. She was getting heavy, but he almost hated to put her down. She would be turning six this year, going into first grade, she was always telling him now that she was a big girl and could do things herself. _The first time I held you I just wanted to do everything for you._ She was still so tiny though, she was going to have her mother's build he could just tell. She rubbed her face against his vest like she did when he was baby and yawned. She looked up at him and gave him a small smile. He sat her down and she hugged him.

"You ready for bed?" asked Spencer and Abby nodded. Spencer looked over and Sammy was asleep on Catherine's lap. _Catherine would have Sammy in her arms and Abby her lap while she rocked them to sleep. _It was getting late and he could just tell that kids were burnt out. Spencer picked Abby back up and brought her over to where Catherine was sitting with Will and JJ. Garcia was dancing with Morgan and Rossi was having a cigar. Everyone else had gone back to their hotel rooms to sleep.

"I think it's time for us to go," said/signed Spencer and Catherine nodded looking at Sammy.

"Don't worry we'll clean up here," said/signed JJ and she hugged Catherine. Will shook Spencer's hand and offered to help them take the kids out to the car. He carefully picked Sammy up off of Catherine's lap and they headed to the car. They got the kids in their seats and Catherine got in the driver's seat and started the drive home.

The kids stayed asleep has they brought them inside and they woke them up briefly to get them undressed and into their pj's. They fell right back asleep as soon as they were tucked into bed. Catherine made sure both nightlights were on before shutting the door to the kid's rooms.

"So we're all packed for the cabin tomorrow?" asked Spencer and Catherine nodded.

"I feel a little bad about leaving them," admitted Catherine.

"They'll be fine. We're not going that far," signed Spencer. Catherine smiled at him and hugged him.

"I think you're just trying to make yourself feel less guilty about leaving them," signed Catherine.

"When we come home in three days we'll take them to the zoo or somewhere else. Besides all the grandparents are here. They won't miss us at all," signed Spencer and Catherine laughed.

"I love you," said Catherine. Spencer kissed her forehead and took her hand.

"I would like to play that song with you again," signed Spencer. Catherine nodded and they went into the office and sat down.

"When you first brought this home I had just found out I was pregnant with Abby and you sat me down to teach me how to play. It was than that I knew...that I really knew that you were going to be an amazing father," signed Catherine.

"Thank you for believing in me," signed Spencer. He sat down next to her and they started playing together. _You've always believed in me._ They finished the piece and he leaned over and kissed her.

"I never should have left that night," signed Spencer. "When we were eighteen and I left that night. I shouldn't have...I," Catherine took his hands and held them.

"I wouldn't trade what we have for anything. It was what needed to happen so we could be here," signed Catherine. He leaned over and kissed her again. _You are the reason we're here...Thank you for this.  
><em>

Songs used-Rihanna-Stay. I do perfer the Jasmine Thompson cover though.

Paget Brewster does have a very pretty singing voice.

I think one more chapter to tie this up.


	26. A little explaining

A little notice

I received a review with no name and read as such:

honestly, as a birth mother (aka someone who placed a child for adoption) and someone who plans to work at an agency, this chapter is kind of offensive. children should always know, from birth that they are adopted or else it causes a lot of resentment and anger in later life. it seems like you have it very black and white, and now that savannah fulfilled her convenient plot device to give spencer and catherine a baby, it's easy to write her and saul off as not being a part of their birth son's life. i haven't kept up with reading this because the adoption plot was not that great, but i had to stop reading after i read their 'family conversation' about the adoption.

It was not my intention to be offensive to anyone who had given their child up for adoption or had adopted children. I plan on bring Savannah and Saul back for the last chapter since it's going to be another time jump to explain where they had been and how the families are doing. I based my conversation on how to try to keep things age relative since they were talking to five and six year old per some adoption sites (One site did say pre-school was when most children start asking where they came from) and how my own parents tried to explain that my father wasn't my 'father' at seven. As they pointed out it wasn't going to be the last time they talked about this with their children and lots of sites expressed not dumping everything on them at once, but to space it out based on their age. I do love Catherine and Spencer, but they are far from perfect parents and this was a way of trying to show that they are just parents and as my favorite comic Patton Oswalt said.

"My parents loved me and they fucked up. I'm sure I'm fucking up right now and I won't know it till she's 40! But I'm reading all the books and they're most likely wrong too!"

I hope this clears somethings up...or else I've just add gas to the fire.


	27. Finale

_September 2017_

"Daddy...can I ask you a question?" asked Sammy looking up from his homework. Spencer had the day off and had picked him from school and they were waiting for Catherine and Abby to get home.

"Sure," said/signed Spencer.

"You and mommy had pictures of Abby when she was in mommy, do you have pictures of when I was in my other mommy?" asked Sammy.

"Yes we do. Would you like to see them when mommy and Abby get home from school?" asked Spencer.

"Yeah," said Sammy looking a little worried.

"Is there something bothering you?" asked Spencer. Sammy shrugged and Spencer sat down next to him and looked at him. "We have to talk when things are bothering us," said Spencer. A rule Catherine had set down since the children could talk. Sammy sat his homework aside and looked at Spencer.

"Did my other mommy and daddy not like me?" asked Sammy.

"Why would you think that?" asked Spencer. They had another talk with Abby and Sammy right before school started about how he was adopted and if they had any questions he could ask them any time.

"There's a girl in my class and she's adopted too, but she said her mommy and daddy got her from another country and some of the other boys were mean about it. They said her parents sent her away like a dog," said Sammy clearly upset. It was still amazing to Spencer how cruel children could be to each other at times.

"I know she was not sent away like a dog and neither were you. Your birth mom and dad loved you very much and we love very much," said Spencer. Sammy was about to say something when they heard the front door open and Abby called out they were home. Catherine came into the dining room and noticed how worried Spencer looked and how upset Sammy was.

"What's going on?" asked Catherine sitting her bag down.

"I need to talk to your mom for a minute. Can you take your homework upstairs?" asked Spencer. Sammy nodded and took his stuff upstairs and Catherine sat down.

"What's wrong?" asked Catherine. Spencer filled her in on what happened today and Catherine sighed. "Well I guess it's time for a longer more in depth talk." They had tried to keep it simple since the kids were young and bring the story up bit by bit. There was so much history to go into considering Spencer's history with Savannah's mother and how Savannah came into their lives.

"Can we eat before we start?" asked Catherine.

"Please," signed Spencer. He started dinner while Catherine got the kids through their homework. They had dinner and Catherine pulled out one of her scrapbooks and they all sat down to talk.

"Daddy said you wanted to see pictures of your other mom," said/signed Catherine and Sammy nodded. Catherine opened one of the scrapbooks and pulled out a picture of Savannah from her graduation.

"This is her when she finished high school. That little bump is you," said/signed Catherine handing the picture to Sammy. He looked at it and Abby leaned over to and looked at it too.

"You and daddy knew her?" asked Abby.

"We did," said/signed Spencer.

"I taught her and I taught your other dad when they were school together," explained Catherine.

"Did they like me?" asked Sammy looking at Catherine.

"Yes they did sweetie, but having a baby is a lot of work and they knew that you needed someone who could take care of you all the time and give you a good home. They knew daddy and I had Abby and that we had a good home for you to be in. So they asked us if we would like to have you and we said yes," explained Catherine.

"You won't give me back for adoption? Or Abby" asked Sammy.

"No," said/signed Spencer. Sammy looked worried and Spencer looked at him. "Listen to me ...we're family and we love you and Abby both very much. What that boy said today was wrong. It wasn't that you weren't loved, you were loved very much."

"Do you and daddy still talk to them?" asked Abby.

"I write them letters and I send them pictures of you and Sammy. Grandma Elisa also tells them how we're doing. I was going to write a letter tonight and tell them about your first day of school. Would you two like to write something?" asked Catherine.

"You won't read it?' asked Sammy.

"You put it an envelope and I won't look," promised Catherine. Sammy hugged her tightly and she kissed him on the forehead. He went upstairs and Abby looked at them.

"Yes sweetie?" asked Spencer.

"Can I write them too?" asked Abby.

"I don't see why not," said/signed Spencer. Abby hugged them and went upstairs. Catherine looked at him and she looked tired.

"Do they seem ok to you with all this?" asked Catherine.

"Yes. I know we're going to have to go into more details the older they get, but for right now I think we've told them what they needed to know and could understand," said/signed Spencer. He reached over and squeezed her hand. The kids came down a little while later with two folded up pieces of paper. True to her word, Catherine put both letters in an envelope and than put them in with the letter and picture she was going to send to Savannah and Saul in Chicago.

"I'm going to mail them out tomorrow ok," said/signed Catherine.

"Can daddy tell us a story?" asked Abby.

"You know that is a silly question," said/signed Spencer as the kids settled on the sofa next to them. Spencer was reciting Alice in Wonderland to them from memory and it always amazed her how quickly he could get their attention without a book with pictures. They had stories that were only read when he was home and books they read when he was gone, it was habit that helped the kids when Spencer was away. Abby dozed off next to her and Sammy was starting to nod off.

"I think we'll finish this later," said/signed Spencer.

"But..." protested Sammy and Spencer shook his head.

"You have school tomorrow and so does mommy and Abby and I have to go to work tomorrow so everyone has to go to bed," said/signed Spencer. Catherine woke Abby up and they headed upstairs to bed. Catherine was tucking Abby in when she grabbed Catherine's hand.

"Why did you and daddy want Sammy?" asked Abby.

"It's hard to explain sweetie. Daddy and I knew we wanted to have another baby and when Sammy's birth parents asked us if we wanted Sammy it just felt right," explained Catherine. Abby looked thoughtful for a moment, it was so much like Spencer when he was in deep thought.

"You wanted me too?" she asked.

"Very much," signed Catherine giving her a kiss. Abby settled in with her stuffed cat and Catherine turned on her nightlight before shutting the door. She checked on Sammy and found he was already asleep. Spencer was downstairs making them tea.

"You were upstairs for awhile," signed Spencer.

"Abby had some follow up questions for me? How did we know we wanted Sammy? Did we want her?"

"What did you tell her?" asked Spencer.

"I told her I really wasn't sure how we knew we wanted Sammy, but that it just felt right. I told her that we wanted her too. She seemed ok with that," signed Catherine. He handed her a cup of tea and they sat there quietly.

"I wish they could understand how much we really wanted them," said Catherine.

…_..._

_ Twenty-five years later-2042_

"I'm nervous," signed Catherine.

"Why? You and Sammy talk all the time," signed Spencer. Catherine rolled her eyes and motioned towards the stage.

"Yeah I talk to Sammy all the time. I don't talk to Sammy in front of thousands of people. He sold out Eisenhower Theater! When he asked me to talk on one his shows I didn't think it would be this. I thought it would just be us at his house with one of his assistants...not this," signed Catherine and she started pacing. Spencer grabbed her hand and smiled at her.

"It's going to be fine," signed Spencer. Catherine just gave him a look and than peaked out at the stage. Sammy had been trying for months to get Catherine to come on one of his on line radio shows and when she finally agreed to it he sprung on her that he had booked Eisenhower Theater for one of his radio shows and that he would have her on that one. Sammy's wife Ellie shrugged and grinned at how shocked Catherine looked.

"He's your son," teased Ellie. Catherine looked over to Spencer, he just grinned and adjusted his granddaughter Sofia in his arms. Sofia had just turned six months old and was half dozing in his arms. Ellie and Sammy had only been married for two months. Sammy had met Ellie when she was doing research at the FBI and she agreed to help him with his research for his TV show based on some of the BAU cases. Ellie still did research from time to time, but she had mostly quit to raise Sofia.

"It was only a matter of time you know. He already conned Abby, Savannah and Saul on," said/signed Spencer when Sammy, Ellie and Sofia had left.

"I don't know why...Abby, Savannah and Sual have much more interesting lives than me," signed Catherine. Abby was a history professor in Seattle and Savannah was working in New York as a costume designer with Saul who was a fundraiser for a charity.

Catherine had retired earlier this year and it was only a few months until he retired from the BAU. Over twenty years of service and it was about to come to an end. He wasn't sure what they were going to do. Abby was going to get married later on this year, he and Catherine had debated staying here in DC to be near Sammy and Ellie or maybe going to stay with Abby to help with her wedding planning.

"I happen to think you are a very interesting person," signed Spencer. Catherine simply rolled her eyes and headed up to bed. Now they were waiting backstage at the theater and Catherine was trying to stay calm. Spencer looked behind him to see Sammy and Ellie were talking to Savannah and Saul. Spencer tapped Catherine's shoulder and pointed out that Savannah and Saul were here. Catherine grinned and they went over to talk to them. Savannah hugged her and Spencer and grinned.

"It's good to see you," signed Catherine. Savannah hugged Spencer and it still amazed him how far they had come.

…...

_October 2017_

Spencer was finishing up some of the files on his desk when Garcia tapped him on the shoulder.

"Someone's here to see you," said Garcia with a grin. Spencer turned around and standing there was a girl with short blonde hair with a pink streak on it wearing a pink dress and black sweater. Spencer took a moment to look at her and realized it was Savannah.

"Savannah," said Spencer and he stood up as she came over to him and hugged him.

"Hey. It's really good to see you," said Savannah.

"Thanks...you too," said Spencer. It got quiet between them and Savannah started rocking on her heels. "Do you want to go and get some coffee?"

"That would be nice," said Savannah. He told Garcia he was leaving early and they headed out and went to a small coffee shop near the BAU. They ordered and sat down across from each other. Savannah seemed so nervous and worried.

"Are you and Saul visiting Elise?" asked Spencer trying to put her at ease.

"Yeah...we're getting married," said Savannah with a small smile. Spencer had noticed the ring on her hand, but he figured she would want to tell him.

"Congratulations. I have to say the hair is a very nice touch," teased Spencer. Savannah laughed and twisted the pink in her hair.

"There was a stage show of Pretty in Pink and we all put some pink in our hair," said Savannah giving it a twist. She got quiet again and twisted her engagement ring.

"So everything is going good for you than?" asked Spencer.

"Yeah...yeah everything's great," said Savannah sounding a bit nervous. Spencer gave her a look and she took a deep breath to gather her thoughts.

"I know that I haven't been around in awhile...it's just...I needed some space from all the crazy stuff that happened here. I just...I don't know...I was worried that if I came back that I would ruin stuff here," said Savannah.

"Why would you think that?" asked Spencer.

"It was just a crazy thought in my head. I was doing really good for awhile in Chicago and than my mom found me. We had an awful fight and she made me feel so horrible about everything that had happened and I told her what a horrible person she was and she stormed off. She got in an accident a few months after that and she didn't make it. I just wondered if she hadn't of had me would her life been better. If it hadn't have been for Saul I think I would have gone really nuts," admitted Savannah.

"You could have called us anytime," said Spencer wishing they had tried to reach out more.

"I needed to fight my own fights. You guys had done more for me than anyone in my life. Saul was also there to help me fight it," said Savannah with a smile. Spencer knew how she felt about having someone there to help you fight the fight.

"Saul would always open your letters and he kept Sammy's pictures in a photo album. I finally sat down and read them all. He sounds so sweet and smart...he's really happy with you," said Savannah wiping her eyes. She reached into her purse and pulled out two folded pieces of paper. She handed it over to Spencer. He unfolded it and it was Sammy and Abby's letter to Savannah and Saul.

_Hi my name is Sammy and I just wanted to say thank you. I have the best mom and dad ever. We read stories all the time and go look at stars. I really like it here and it's really nice here. _

_ Thank you _

_ Sammy_

_ I want to thank you for letting my mommy and daddy have Sammy. He's a nice little brother and I love him very much. I hope you have a nice family like we do. _

_ Abigail_

Spencer had to blink back his own tears, he hoped that his children would always be this happy. He knew he missed out on a lot of things because of work, he had missed Sammy walking, Abby's first day of school, and who knew how many other events he would miss. At least for now they were happy.

"Someday I hope to have kids that love me as much as yours," said Savannah. Spencer handed her the letters back.

"You should keep these," said Spencer. She took them back and wiped her eyes again. 

"I know it's asking a lot since I..." Spencer cut her off.

"Let me check with Catherine. I'm sure she would love to have you and Saul over," said Spencer.

"Will the kids be ok with us coming over?" asked Savannah.

"We'll talk to them, but it should be ok," said Spencer. She gave him a smile and Spencer couldn't help but feel a small sense of pride of how far she had come.

Spencer went home and found that Catherine was grading, his dad had offered to take the kids to park while she tried to finish up some work.

"He said he would have them home before dinner. I guess that means I need to start cooking," signed Catherine sitting her work aside. He followed her downstairs and helped her get chicken and rice ready for dinner.

"So I had a visitor today. Savannah came by the BAU today," signed Spencer. Catherine looked at him stunned.

"How is she?" asked Catherine.

"She's fine. Her and Saul are getting married," signed Spencer. Catherine couldn't help but smile.

"That's great. I had a feeling about them," admitted Catherine.

"She wanted to know if she and Saul could come over for dinner," signed Spencer. Catherine looked stunned and Spencer took her hand.

"It's going to be ok. It's just dinner...she wants to see Sammy. She knows that he's happy with us. I think she also missed you a bit," signed Spencer. Catherine turned a bit pink and hugged him.

"If the kids are ok with it than I will be ok," signed Catherine. They sat them down after dinner and told them that Sammy's birth parents were in town and wanted to visit.

"It's just a visit?" asked Abby. She had that look Spencer gave her when he wasn't buying something.

"That's all," said/signed Catherine. Sammy looked at them and nodded.

"It's ok. It's just a visit and they were your friends right?" asked Sammy.

"Yes they were," said/signed Spencer.

…_..._

After that night Saul and Savannah started visiting more often and writing letters and e-mailing them. Spencer had a feeling that Savannah was looking for the thing he had always wanted, to have a family and while no papers were signed she introduced them to her friends as her parents at the wedding. She had Catherine walk her down the aisle and made him do the father-daughter dance with her. Some of the distant members of Saul's family weren't pleased with them being there and had some rather rude remarks about 'that white couple' who 'took the baby'. Thankfully the children didn't hear those remarks and Elise removed them from the wedding stating if they couldn't respect her family they had no place there. Savannah looked near tears and had to be consoled by Saul and Catherine. Elise shook her head.

"You know your family is the best place he could have ended up. Honestly I was worried that she would give it to strangers and I would never see my grandson. Instead I have two grandchildren out of this." She patted Spencer on the shoulder and went back to the wedding. Spencer headed back in and found that Abby and Sammy were dancing with Saul's older sister and grinned. He knew that adults could be just as horrible as children, but they were a family no matter what people said.

…...

Saul and Savannah ended up moving to New York about a year after their wedding and a few years after that they had a their daughter, Christina and two years after that they had a son, Nicholas. After Nicholas was born Sammy sort of had a hard time understanding why they gave him to Catherine and Spencer when they kept the other kids.

"Why didn't they want to keep me?" asked Sammy. Spencer was away at a conference and Abby was staying at a friend's house so Catherine had to talk to him one on one. She hugged her son tightly and kissed him on the forehead.

"Sweetie it wasn't that they didn't want too, they weren't ready. They do love you and that's why they let us have you. We all love you...I love you and Abby. You guys are my life and you have no idea how happy you make me and daddy," said/signed Catherine. He looked at her conflicted and she wished she could make him understand how much she loved him.

"Can I call and talk to them?" asked Sammy.

"Let me text them first," said/signed Catherine feeling horrible and not understanding why. She sent Savannah a text that Sammy really needed to talk to her. She gave the ok to have him call her. She handed Sammy the phone and he went to his room. Catherine sighed and wanted to cry, he was almost ten and it made her feel so old. They were growing up and they were becoming their own people, despite still needing her and Spencer to do things for them. About an hour later Sammy came out of his room and sat next to her.

"She said that she didn't have a good mom and that she didn't think she would be a good mom for me. She knew you would be a good mom since you were good to her...she said she learned to be a good mom from you," said/signed Sammy.

"You gonna be ok?" asked Catherine. Sammy just leaned over and hugged her.

"I love you mom," whispered Sammy.

…...

_2042_

"So are you ready?" teased Sammy and Catherine gave him a look. They were about to the start the show and Spencer had gone to take his seat with Savannah and Saul.

"This is a bit too much," signed Catherine. "What are we even going to talk about? Can I tell them how many times I put you in time out?"

"Trust me it's going to be fine. This is something I've been kicking around for awhile and it's not going to work without you," said/signed Sammy giving her puppy dog eyes.

"If I didn't love you so much," signed Catherine. Sammy hugged her.

"I'm going to go out and do the introduction and than you and my assistant Kelly is going to be your voice for the recording," said/signed Sammy pointing to a tall woman with red hair.

"They're ready to start," said/signed Kelly. Sammy nodded and hugged her again.

"See you soon," he signed and headed out to the stage. Catherine could feel how loud everyone was out in the auditorium. He was after all somewhat famous from the crime show he had created and some other shows he had written for. Than he did these shows on the side and would send her and Spencer transcripts of some of them and she couldn't help but feel proud of him. Kelly started signing what was being said on stage and it was all she could do not to cry and laugh out loud at the same time.

…...

"So this is going to be a bit different than the other shows I do. I do one with Ellie about _Quantico. _I do shows with other writers about our work and than there are the ones were I just talk smack about everything. This one is going to be a bit more personal. I've talked in interviews about being adopted and have talked about my birth parents and I have talked about how my father inspired the show I created, but I've never really talked about my mother.

The reason I've decided to do this now is because I finally understand what her role in life was now that I've become a parent and have found my best friend in life. I find myself looking at my daughter and knowing how she's going to think about Ellie because it's the way I thought about my mother. She's going to think Ellie is boring, like I thought my mother was boring."

"Now we all think our parents are boring, but I thought my dad had the exciting life since he was an FBI agent. When I would ask my mom how her and my dad met, she would just tell me that she and my dad met when they were kids. So I just assumed that they had dated since they were teenagers, that they did the long distant thing when my mom was going to school in Boston and my dad was doing his FBI training and when my dad got his BAU post she moved to DC to be with him. I thought that for years until I started doing the research for _Quantico._"

…...

_2040_

"What are these?" asked Sammy dropping some papers on the counter. Sammy had gone up into the attic to read some of Gideon's old journals about his days at the BAU. Spencer picked them up and sighed before handing them to Catherine. She turned a bit pink and looked at Sammy slightly embarrassed. They were her divorce papers from Paul.

"You were married before dad?" asked Sammy shocked.

"Sweetie it was a very long time ago and I was barely in my twenties," signed Catherine. Sammy sat down and looked at her shocked.

"Why didn't you tell us?" asked Sammy. Catherine gave him a look.

"Have you told us all the things you did in college?" asked Catherine and Sammy ducked his head.

"You...that's different! You were married!" protested Sammy. Catherine grinned at Spencer as he went to make tea.

"Yes. We were married for a few months and we realized we weren't right for each other. We divorced and we each remarried to people who we were more suited to. He married a nice lawyer and they've had four kids. I got your father," signed Catherine.

"But you guys didn't get married until like 2000 and whatever. What was deal?" asked Sammy.

"We started dating in 2006 and wanted to be sure things were right," said/signed Spencer.

"Wait. We're you not cool with her getting married?" asked Sammy. Catherine gave Sammy a look.

"Sweetie it was so long ago the details don't matter," said/signed Catherine. Sammy shook his head.

"I need to go find some brain bleach to block out that the fact you dated...married other people," said/signed Sammy. He said his goodbyes and ran off with the books he needed. Catherine took a cup of tea and grinned at Spencer.

"I think I broke his brain. Who would have thought mom had the crazy life?" teased Catherine.

"I'm sure he'll get over the fact that you were sexual involved with someone else in your twenties," signed Spencer and Catherine laughed.

"Do you think he'll turn up anything on you with a Google imagine search?" she joked.

"I was a 'mystery man' in all those photos," signed Spencer and she laughed.

"Still I think you might take the cake with yours. I was just married. You made out with an actress in pool," signed Catherine.

"In all fairness she kissed me first," signed Spencer.

"Yes, I know darling," she grabed her tea, gave him a kiss and headed to office to grade. Spencer shook his head. He wondered what would happen if he told his son that his mother had a one night stand when she was an exchange student in Australia. Or that she had made him lose one of his socks during a stay at the cabin. Oh yes there was a number of stories they could each tell Sammy to make his head explode.

…...

_2042_

"I never even thought in my wildest dreams that my mom would even look at another guy let alone marry another guy. It was this werid thing to realize that had she not left the first guy when she did, she wouldn't have reconnected with my dad when she did and in recconnecting with my dad she got to meet my birth parents. That my sister and I exist because my mom wanted to give my dad another chance. She was willing to take this huge risk to be with my dad again. They hadn't spoken in years and she didn't know how he was going to react to her showing up. She moved her whole life to DC on a hope that he still loved her, because she still loved him. It sounds like a chick flick troupe, but it took guts to admit that she wanted to be with my dad. My dad is the bravest guy I know, but he couldn't take the chance to reach out to her again. She had to take the step and in taking that step she gave him a family."

"Until I became a parent and married Ellie I never really understood what my mother's life was like. I travel a lot for work and luckly I have a job that sometimes allows me to have my family with me when I work. When my dad went to work he could be gone for weeks at a time and my mom would single parent us the way Ellie does when I can't be with her and damn it's trying. I called Ellie one night we finished shooting and she was in tears. The baby was sick, she was sick, the sewer had backed up in the basement and she was just tired of everything."

"And I felt horrible...like ' Holy shit I have stuck her with the worst fucking job in the world.' Than I remembered this day when I was about nine: my dad had been gone for about four days and we had day from hell-just everything went horribly fucking wrong-I missed the bus, my mom was running late with Abby for school, she came to pick me up from baseball and her tire blew out, we burned dinner and the icing on top of the cake was a storm hitting that night and the roof started leaking in the kitchen. She clamly pulled out a pot, sat it under the leak, looked at us and begged us to not tell our father about today. She wanted to spare him that ' you're an asshole' feeling I was getting from Ellie. And who knows they were probably times when my mom let my him know that he had stuck with the worst fucking job in the world and hopefully they'll be a day when Ellie will plead with our kids to not tell me what happened when I was gone to spare me that 'you're an asshole' feeling."

"I wouldn't have the life I have without Ellie in it and I can't imagine my dad having the life he's had without my mom in it. So I'm taking a chance to sit down with my mom and find out her story. So please welcome my mother to the stage Catherine Reid."

Spencer watched Catherine walk out with one of Sammy's assisants near tears and very pink in the face and hug their son. He hugged her back hard and gestured to the chair for her to take a seat.

"So...where do start?" asked Sammy with a grin.

…...

_Three months later_

"The way an Un-Sub lures his victims speaks to their level of confidence with the kill. If I'm calm and charming towards my victims I can easily lure them away, even manage to convince authorities that I'm not any trouble. Dahmer himself was so confident he actually talked police officers into believing that one of his escaped victims was a drunk boyfriend. Even when they entered his apartment they noted that the apartment smelled like excrement they still left the apartment and Dahmer with his victim," explained Spencer. He looked over and saw Melissa, the normal instructor for this class tapping her watch.

"Any questions?" asked Spencer. One of the cadets, a tall dark haired girl with glasses raised her hand. Her name tag read Bethany. "Yes."

"Do you feel the the confidence is what gets them caught in the end?"

"Their ego does lead to their downfall, but we are the ones who catch them in the end," said Spencer. Bethany went to say something when Melissa came up the podium.

"I think that's all the time we have for today. If we could thank Dr. Reid for his time," said Melissa. The class clapped polite and Melissa shook his hand. "Hopefully with his upcoming retirement he'll have more time to come and teach." He only had two days left until his time with the FBI was finished.

"We'll see," said Spencer gathering up his notes. Melissa nodded and went to get ready for her next class.

"Dr. Reid," said Bethany standing their looking nervous. _God they all look so young now..._

"Yes," said Spencer.

"I was hoping to pick your brain about your time at the BAU," said Bethany.

"Well there is a lot to pick through," joked Spencer trying to put her at ease. Bethany let out a small laugh and started following him.

"Well it's sort of a question of a personal nature. I read that the BAU travels a lot, how often did you travel?" asked Bethany.

"It could be at least one or two weeks a month...close to three to four months out of the year," said Spencer and Bethany grim.

"That sort of changes plans than," said Bethany.

"What plans?" asked Spencer.

"Well I had planned on joining the BAU after I finished my training, but the thought of not being home with my family for such long stretches of time is really not appealing," admitted Bethany.

"You're married?" asked Spencer. Bethany sort of grinned and held up her left hand to show a small gold wedding ring.

"He got a job here at the NSA so he'll be here all the time. It just doesn't seem like a good fit," admitted Bethany.

"I've been married over thirty years and have two kids," said Spencer and Bethany looked a little surprised. "Well married for over thirty, I won't count the years we've spent dating. It's was difficult at times, but we made it work. Give it some serious thought." Bethany nodded and walked away. Spencer twisted his ring and headed to the BAU to start cleaning out his office.

"Not bad advice," teased a voice. Spencer turned to see JJ leaning against the wall.

"JJ," said Spencer and he went over and hugged her.

"Congrats on finally getting out of here. I was worried you were going to pull a Rossi and stay here until you were eighty," teased JJ.

"I did promise Catherine a trip to France...if I go back on my word, she'll need Henry as a lawyer," teased Spencer.

"Oh I'm sure he'll love having the 'Catherine Reid' as a client," laughed JJ. In the months since Sammy's show with Catherine had started it had become rather popular. It was odd to go out and have people come up to them and thank Catherine for sharing her story, Sammy released it in a video form so the Deaf could see it. It had helped some people deal with being a new parent, a single parent or a parent with a spouse who worked away from home.

"It's very odd to realize my wife has a fan base. Thankfully all her fans seem to be normal," said Spencer. He and JJ walked back to the BAU. JJ had retired a few years ago after Will had a heart attack. Henry had gone onto law school and was a prosecutor in Virigina. Her daughter Marie was an NPR correspondence and currently living in San Francisco. JJ and Will were in the process of moving back to New Orleans. Will wanted to go home and be near his family, JJ agreed since the kids were grown and the rest of her BAU family was starting to move on.

"Have you seen Emily lately?" asked JJ.

"She's doing better. I think her moving in with Jody and the baby is helping her get over Hotch," said Spencer.

Hotch had passed away three years ago, his old wounds from the Reaper attack had caused liver damage that was beyond repair. He and Emily had gotten married a short time after he and Catherine had their second wedding and Emily moved back to DC. She got a position at a woman's shelter and considering her history helping people disappear she was very good at her job. She still helped there from time to time, but the center of universe right now was her granddaugher. Jody and her husband both did work for the DEA-He has an agent and Jody trained all their scent hounds. Clearly her love of dogs hadn't passed the way Emily had hoped. Jack was a teacher at Zeller, taking over a post once held by Jody's late father. It was odd before Catherine had retired she worked with Jack and the drama club.

"Jack's putting on The Priates of Penzance for the play this year," said Spencer. "He's asked the school board if he could put the funds towards a drama scholarship." JJ smiled, clearly the boy remembered how his parents had fallen in love during that play.

"According to Catherine he was getting rather chummy with her replacement," said JJ.

"Nina's a nice girl...and he has been asking for help on his signing," said Spencer with a smile.

"So do you know when Garcia is coming in?" asked JJ.

"She's coming in from Chicago next week. Sammy asked her to come and talk about meeting Catherine for the first time," said Spencer. Garcia and Kevin had moved to Chicago after Hotch and Emily got married. Kevin's father had passed away and his mother was ill and moving her to DC was not an option. They all thought after Kevin's mother passed she would come back to the BAU, however she had found a job at a non profit working with children who wanted to learn programming and even after her mother-in-law's passing she couldn't pull herself away.

…...

_2023_

"It's gonna be hell to replace you baby girl," said Morgan raising his glass in a toast.

"Don't be like that," said Emily giving him a shove. They were holding a going away party for Garcia at Derek's house. JJ and Catherine were outside playing with the kids and Kevin was haiving a final game with his Pathfinder group. The rest of the gang were sitting around Morgan's kitchen table having drinks.

"My moving to Chicago is a reason for you to come home and visit your family. Besides I have babies here I need to spoil. You and your pretty lady need to give me some babies Derek Morgan," teased Garcia. Morgan's girlfriend, Jessica came into the dining room with a fresh bottle of wine and laughed.

"I don't make babies without a wedding first," she joked kissing Morgan. Jessica was a nurse Morgan had been set up it, however it seemed to be working better than most of his relationships.

"Ah weddings are just a formality," teased Will.

"Says the man who begged for a wedding for...three...four years?" teased Hotch.

"It was for my mother," said Will and everyone at the table laughed.

"I won't even tell you about the amount of pressure Andrew put on Catherine to get married," said Spencer.

"It's highly overrated," said Rossi sipping his scotch.

"Says the master of divorce," joked Emily.

"Aren't we supposed to celebrating something," teased Rossi.

"Oh yes. We're all proud of you sweetheart," said Morgan hugging Garcia.

"I just. I love those kids guys. I understand why Catherine does what she does. I'm going to have to give up my shoe habit, but they are so worth it guys," said Garcia and she told them a few stories about some of the kids she was helping. "You should just see their faces when they learn something new. It's just amazing to see."

"We're going to miss you," said Spencer. Garcia came over and hugged him tightly.

"I'm planning on Skyping your wife at least three times a week," said Garcia.

"I'm sure she love that," said Spencer.

"So I have to ask something. Is it true you followed his wife around when they first meet?" asked Jessica and they all started laughing.

"He never brought her around!" protested Garcia.

"You pulled her credit card records," countered Spencer and he told Jessica about how Garcia showed at cafe near Catherine's school and got her into a corner table and talked to her for over an hour.

"Should I feel lucky that I didn't get this treatment," said Jessica.

"Whose to say you didn't," said Garcia sipping her wine with a grin. She picked up her glass and went outside to join JJ, Catherine and the kids.

"That's not funny," said Jessica looking worried.

"I'm worried about what she did when I was dating JJ," said Will.

…...

"Oh honey slow down. Mommy can't run that fast," called JJ to Henry,Sammy and Jack. She was six months pregnant and felt like she was nine months along. Catherine, Abby and Jody were playing a swing set Morgan had built for the kids. Henry and Sammy were playing tag and somehow JJ got roped in to playing.

"I can't run either," said Garcia sitting down at the patio table. Catherine told Abby and Jody she was going to talk to Penny and to go play with the boys. Catherine went over and sat with Garcia and JJ threw up her hands and went over to join the other woman.

"I think I gave Jessica a good scare," teased Garcia.

"Why?" asked Catherine.

"Got to make sure she treats my baby right," said/signed Garcia. JJ rolled her eyes and rubbed her midsection.

"I expect your butt back here when I pop her out," said/signed JJ.

"It's an unfair joke that I decide to leave and you're going to have a baby girl. I love my boys, but I need a little more girl power in my life," said/signed Garcia.

"Well after this this I'm shutting it down. I'm getting too old for this," said/signed JJ.

"Whatever," signed Catherine. She looked over to make sure the kids were playing ok and turned back to group. "I hope you know that I'm going to be bring the kids out during the summer with or without Spencer," signed Catherine.

"Oh I want to take them to Lego Land!" cried Garcia.

"I really hate stepping on those," signed Catherine.

"They are terrible," agreed JJ. Emily came out to join them and looked at all the kids playing and smiled.

"I'm going to miss you ladies so much," said/signed Garcia. Catherine took her hand and squeezed.

"This is going to be good for you," signed Catherine.

"I hope to be half the teacher you are," said/signed Garcia.

"You helped catch some of the worst serial killers in the world. Teaching is going to be breeze," said/signed Emily and Catherine gave her a look.

"I think you get paid better than I do," said/signed Catherine.

"I will miss shoe shopping," said/signed Garcia. The group sat their quietly watching the kids play and Garcia got a little glassy eyed.

"Kevin and I have been thinking about having kids, but part of me is terrified of having a baby without you ladies near me," admitted Garcia. "I mean Kevin's sisters are out there, but it's not the same." Catherine leaned over and hugged Garcia hard.

"I was so scared when I found out I was pregnant with Abby and I felt so alone when it happened. I promise you won't be alone...you let us know and I promise one of us will be on the first plane out to be with you," said Catherine softly. They recalled when Catherine was pregnant with Abby when Emily was 'dead'. It hadn't been a good time for any of them. Catherine had hid her pregnancy for close to four months before telling them. Catherine's pregnancy had helped bring them back together and reminded them that they were a family.

"I'm gonna miss you guys," said/signed Garcia hugging each of them. A week later she and Kevin were back on a plane to Chicago. About a year later Garcia found out she was pregnant and Catherine and Emily were the first two out to Chicago to see their god daughter- Lily Catherine Lynch. They were also the first two out about three years later when Garcia had her son-Eric Morgan Lynch. Garcia was about six months with her third child when she married Jessica and Morganat a park near his childhood home. Spencer served has the best man and Catherine played her own part in the wedding holding Morgan and Jessica's son Adian during the ceremony.

…...

_2042_

The office was almost cleaned out. JJ had taken some boxes down to the car and left to go meet Henry for a late lunch. Spencer sat at the desk that Hotch had once sat behind and sighed. It was so odd to think this would be coming to end soon. His replacement was picked, a woman named Maggie Wu. She had been his student for years and now she was going to take his place. Maggie was tough and smart, she reminded him of Emily and JJ in so many ways. She would do right by the BAU, if it was anyone else he wouldn't feel alright leaving. 

There was a light tap on the office door and Spencer turned to see Lissa standing in the doorway holding some boxes.

"I found you some more boxes sir," said Lissa. Spencer gave her a small smile and waved her in. Lissa was still new to the BAU, but she was shaping up to be a great agent. She brushed her short red hair back and sat the boxes down.

"It sort feels like the end of era," teased Lissa looking around the office. "Do you want some help in here?"

"I wouldn't mind it," said Spencer. Lissa nodded and started with the books on one of the bookcases.

"So would it be to forward of me to ask what you plan on doing with your retirement. You really don't seem like the golfing type," said Lissa. Spencer laughed and put some framed pictures in a box.

"I'm pretty sure my wife has some ideas," said Spencer. Lissa grinned and put some more books in the box. She started taking photos off the shelf and she paused.

"I know I haven't been here long, but I am going to miss you. I enjoyed learning for you," said Lissa.

"Thank you," said Spencer. Lissa looked at the framed photo, it was one of him and kids at Morgan's wedding.

"I like listening to your son's podcasts, plus his TV show is awesome," admitted Lissa turning a little pink.

"Well considering it's one of the top rated shows in the country I'm not surprised you're a fan," said Spencer. She put the photos in the box for him.

"You guys are gonna be so hard to live up too," said Lissa.

"We just wanted to help people and that's all you need to do," said Spencer.

"Does it get easier...the ones you couldn't help?" asked Lissa.

"No," admitted Spencer. "If that's the only thing you focus on though it will make this job impossible. You have to focus on the ones you do help. It's them that make the difference. Also a life outside this place helps," said Spencer. Lissa laughed.

"Well I do have a kniting group on Thursday nights," said Lissa.

"Knit some colorful," said Spencer. They finished packing up the office in slience. Lissa went to work on her paperwork and Spencer took his boxes out to his car and started the drive home. Catherine was sitting outside reading a book when he came home. He sat down next to her and she looked up him and grinned.

"How was your day?" asked Catherine.

"Good. Taught a class, packed up my office and now all the boxes are in the car. How was your talk with Sammy today?" asked Spencer.

"We talked about me going to high school at thirteen...actually we need to talk. If I keep this up with Sammy how do...do I talk about our bad times. He doesn't know how bad things were between us in the past. Could I get you in trouble for talking about what happened in Georgia? Or the Emily thing? I wanna be honest with him and with the people who listen to the show, but...what if our past hurts him?" asked Catherine. Spencer took her hand and squeezed. He had a feeling that this might come up, how would his son react to find out he a problem with drugs. That they had separated when she was pregnant with Abby. It had been over 20 years since he had taken any drugs and all those cases he worked during that time were so air tight nothing could be overturned. It was their children opinions that worried him.

"We'll have to tell him, there isn't a way around it. It had a huge impact on our realationship," signed Spencer.

"We'll talk to him together off mike. How mad do you think he's gonna be?" asked Catherine.

"He'll be a little mad...but he's learning that we had a long road before him. A lot it was bumpy," signed Spencer.

"It's been really smooth has of late. So you're really gonna go to France with me?" asked Catherine.

"Do you plan on taking someone else?" asked Spencer with a grin.

"I just never thought I would get you out the country. I know I won't get you on the beaches, but I think we'll have fun." She put her head on his shoulder and they sat their together in slience. Spencer thought about how they were gonna explain to their son about their past. Their were parts of it neither one of them were proud of, however all the good parts outweighed the bad parts. She was the best part of his life, she had given him the best parts of life and he could never thank her enough for that.

"I love you more than you will ever know," whispered Spencer.

Writer's notes-Writer's block is a bitch! It started this and deleted it at least three those who stuck with it thanks a bunch. I'm debating doing another one with Catherine and Spencer-Sort of flashback series with her talking to Sammy. I'm also debating doing a Hungry Games fic with their resident dork-Beetee. What can I say I like them dorky. I hope you all liked this fic and thank you for reading.


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